Racing: Wide draw no barrier in Tony Pike’s Oaks shot

Cheval D'Or. Photo / Race Images

Cambridge trainer Tony Pike knows Cheval D’Or overcoming a horror barrier in today’s A$700,000 Queensland Oaks isn’t impossible, because he has done it before.

But he admits his filly and fellow Cambridge filly Sakura Girl are up against it in the Group 1 at Eagle Farm.

There is no shortage of Kiwi-trained horses at Eagle Farm but the Oaks is the race that matters most and the two Cambridge fillies have two of the outside barriers, a feeling Pike knows well.

He trained Provocative to win the Queensland Oaks in 2016 when she started from barrier 16, settled last, looped the field and bolted in at just her seventh start.

“So we know it can be done,” says Pike.

“The only other Queensland Oaks starter I have had was Rock Diva and she drew the outside and finished fourth and this filly [Cheval D’Or] could be as good as them.

“But I’m not sure she is where Provocative was just yet.”

Another key difference was Provocative was a daughter of Zabeel who just outstayed her rivals over 2400m whereas today the Oaks is 2200m, aiding the Australians and making those wide draws for the Kiwi horses that much harder.

“The distance doesn’t help and I think with Eagle Farm able to run 2400m races the Oaks should be that.

“With the shorter distance and our wide draw on a good track I think a top-three placing would be a hell of an effort.”

Not to mention valuable, as Cheval D’Or is a half-sister to Pike’s three-time Group 1 winner The Bostonian as well as closely related to last week’s Queensland Derby winner Kovalica, so an Australian Group 1 placing will seal the deal for Cheval D’Or’s future broodmare career.

Sakura Girl may need to burn early to get handy, so the tactics of those inside her could decide her outcome.

Taranaki trainer Robbie Patterson steps up his Queensland assault earlier in the Eagle Farm programme but the best supported New Zealand galloper in Australia today will be at Flemington.

Trainer Stephen Marsh is taking unbeaten juvenile Codigo to Melbourne for a one-race raid on the A$150,000 opener at Flemington, as he looks to continue sire Ardrossan’s excellent start to his career.

While the local races could be a survival of the fittest at both Avondale and Whanganui, there are some smart juveniles on show at both venues.

The clash of the day is Justaskme vs Times Ticking, two stars of the Central Districts who have similar records but have raced each other only once.

Under weight-for-age conditions on a heavy track in a small field, Justaskme deserves his favouritism.