EF JUN 04 - SCARLETT LADY DAZZLES IN THE QUEENSLAND SUNSHINE

By Graham Potter | Monday, June 6, 2011

Eagle Farm, June 4, 2011.
Track - Dead 5. Rail - True.
Treasury Casino Queensland Oaks (Group 1 - 3yo Fillies) - 2400m.
1 Scarlett Lady; 2 Becerra; 3 Shez Sinsational; 4 Divorces.
Time: 2-29.60. (Carrying 55.5kg). Last 600m: 37.40.
Margins: 2.50; 1.25.

Scarlett Lady has got the boys ducking for cover.

The Graeme and Debbie Rogerson trained filly pulverized her opposition in the Group 1 Queensland Oaks. In the process she extended her winning sequence which has now seen her reel off seven races in succession.

Each time she looks better and stronger than before and she has some of her rivals reevaluating where they go next as they juggle their schedule to try and avoid a confrontation with a filly that is clearly thriving in Queensland where she is showing off a talent that might still yet be relatively untapped.

Will Scarlett Lady attempt to land the Oaks/Derby double?

That decision will be made midweek, but what a happy position it is for her connections to be in as they surf the wave of success that has carried the filly from Maiden status to a Group 1 winner in the space of six races in less than three months.

Since winning for the first time over 1400m at Ellerslie on March 12, Scarlett Lady has been progressively stepped up in distance. Up to 1600m for her second win … then she conquered the 2000m for her third and fourth wins.

She completed the set of six with further wins over 2020m and then 2400m in her grandest success to date in the Oaks.

The climb in class was just as steady. From shedding her Maiden ticket, through Listed company and wins in Group 3 and Group 2 company before ‘nailing’ her first Group 1, Scarlett Lady has carried all before her, taking everything in her stride with a minimum of fuss.

She has won on good going. She has won on dead underfoot conditions. She has won when the track was heavy.

She has an experienced training team looking after her at home and she has a gun rider guiding her fortunes from the saddle.

Quite simply, Scarlett Lady appears to have everything going for her and most would believe that she will be a hard horse to stop should her connections indeed decide to press on to the Derby.

Not bad for a horse who was turned out after a first preparation (which covered her first four career starts) without a win behind her name. (She claimed two seconds and two fourth place finishes in her first four starts).

Who says patience isn’t a virtue?

The Queensland Oaks was a big win for all of Scarlett Lady’s connections. It was a first Queensland Oaks win for the Rogerson stable. It was the first Group 1 win for Scarlett Lady’s sire, Savabeel, who Rogerson trained to Cox Plate glory and last, but not least, it was the first Group 1 win in Australia for jockey James McDonald, adding another feather in the cap of a jockey who has taken the New Zealand riding world by storm and who looks set to do the same in Australia.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Co-trainer Debbie Rogerson: “It was a ten out of ten ride. He’s great. Fantastic.

“He was just going to ride it quiet. He was going to let everything go because he knows she has got a massive turn of foot and he rode it that way to perfection.

“He has got a lot of faith in this horse. He rides her all the time and has got total faith in her. He knows what he’s got underneath him.

“We’ve never won a Queensland Oaks before so this is a very special moment … and with it being Savabeel’s first Group 1 winner today, it’s even more special.

“The fact that we trained Savabeel (who won a Cox Plate) … and we also used to train Savabeel’s mother Savannah Success who won the New Zealand Oaks made it a very special Group 1 all around.

“She does look like a big track horse. She was lucky to get around Doomben. Eagle Farm did suit her much better.

“She is a lovely filly to train. She has got a great attitude. She eats well. She travels well.

“We’d always set her for the Oaks, but probably after her second win we thought we had something special.

“She’s 15.3 hands. She’s well put together. She is strong. She is just a lovely, lovely filly.

“We’ll see in the next few days whether she runs in the Derby. We’ll talk to the owners and see how she comes through this.

“She is definitely the type of filly I would expect to come through the race well and be able to have a crack at the Derby … but there might be bigger plans for her in the spring, so that will be part of our consideration.

Jockey James McDonald: “I wasn’t too worried when I got back. I knew I was on the best filly. I just wanted her to relax early. I knew she’d get me there with a nice turn of foot in the end.

“There was a lot of speed on. Then they bunched up at the 600. I got a beautiful cart into it and she did the rest.

“She picked them up very quickly in the straight and in the end she was just way too good for them. Staying is definitely her forte and she proved it today.

“She’s been very good to me and hopefully she’ll continue to do so.

“The Derby … well that’s up to the connections. If she pulls up well I hope they give it a crack.

Owner Max Whitby: “Scarlett Lady … we purchased her a few years ago at Karaka. We had a bit of luck with Graeme and Debbie racing Savabeel and we stuck very strong.

“To have the stallion make it today is even more decent for me.

“Can I say we have some great friends in Queensland. It’s great to come to here. We travel a bit. We do the bush. We go interstate with our horses. We are committed to racing and it is always a great pleasure to come to Queensland, so I would like to say thank you to Queensland for giving me the opportunity to race a good, little filly like Scarlett Lady at Eagle Farm.

What can I say about James McDonald? I congratulate him on a great ride.

“You’ve seen it. You’ve heard it. You are going to see a lot more of him. What a great jockey … a great gentleman … a good family. He is a lovely young man.

“He’s come across (from New Zealand). He’s been back two or three times in the last couple of weeks. He’s going to come back next week all being well.

“He’s heading for a record number of wins in a season in New Zealand. With six weeks to the end of the season I think he’ll get it without a doubt.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Scarlett Lady): 3.50 out to 4.00 in to 3.90.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Connections of Heidilicious advised stewards that if the horse begins well, jockey J. Winks has been instructed to ride the horse in a forward position. As the horse reared at the start, losing ground, it was ridden in a rearward position.

Heidilicious (J. Winks) reared as the start was effected and lost considerable ground. Trainer J. Sadler was advised that he would be required to provide a barrier certificate for Heidilicious prior to its next race start

Driving Reign (B. Stewart) was slow to begin.

Shez Sinsational (O. Bosson) was tightened for room at the start between In A Tangle (C. Brown) and Audacious Spirit (D. Dunn), both of which shifted ground.

G. Schofield, rider of Fibrillation, pleaded guilty to a charge of careless riding, in that he permitted his mount to shift in near the 2100m when insufficiently clear of Hidden Kisses, resulting in Hidden Kisses being taken in across the rightful running of Crafty Lady (S. Seamer), which had to be checked. G. Schofield was suspended from riding in races for a period covered by eight meetings, to commence at midnight, 11 June and to expire at midnight, 22 June.

After passing the winning post on the first occasion, Divorces (K. McEvoy) had to be checked when tightened for room by Scarlett Lady (J. McDonald), which was taken in by Fillydelphia (L. Nolen). At a subsequent inquiry, stewards acknowledged that whilst L. Nolen, rider of Fillydelphia, made a concerted effort to relieve the pressure, he was nevertheless issued with a reprimand and reminded of his obligations to allow sufficient room to his fellow riders in similar circumstances in future.

Black Sparta (C. Munce) raced three wide in the early stages.

Passing the 1400m, Fibrillation (G. Schofield) commenced to over-race and had to be steadied from the heels of Tropicana Girl (H. Bowman).

After passing the 500m, Driving Reign had to be checked to avoid the heels of Black Sparta, which commenced to tire.

Near the 400m, Crafty Lady (S. Seamer) had to be checked from the heels of Heidilicious (J. Winks) when that runner shifted out to improve. At a subsequent inquiry, S. Seamer advised stewards that Crafty Lady was the major contributor to this incident by hanging in across the heels of Heidilicious at that point. Bearing in mind this evidence, stewards did not proceed with the matter although they issued J. Winks, rider of Heidilicious, with a reprimand for shifting out when not fully clear.

Fillydelphia (L. Nolen) raced three wide throughout.

A post race veterinary examination of Black Spartan revealed the horse had been galloped on on the off-hock.

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