Sydney filly Arabian Gold looks to have the Group 1 Queensland Oaks at her mercy following her brilliant victory in The Roses at Doomben on Saturday.
Arabian Gold, with Blake Shinn aboard, showed an amazing turn of foot in the straight to trounce Tinto by 1-1/4 lengths in the 2000-metre Group 2 feature.
Tornado Miss was a similar margin away third.
Trainer David Vandyke had nothing but praise for the daughter of Dubawai who took her record to eight wins from 17 starts with almost $640,000 in prizemoney.
“This is her fourth carnival in a row that she’s performed at Stakes level,” Vandyke said.
“It was an outstanding win and she was nice and relaxed in the enclosure before the race.
“It was a great relief as I couldn’t see her getting beaten on paper.
“We’re looking at the Oaks with her but we will see how she recovers from this run first.”
The Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2400m) will be run at Eagle Farm on May 31.
For Nick Moraitis it was a return to the scene of one of his greatest triumphs as the owner of Might And Power who claimed the Group 1 Doomben Cup in 1998.
“This is my first visit back to Doomben since that day,” Moraitis said.
“It’s good to come here and winning the Doomben Cup all those years ago was a big thrill.
“We’re hoping this filly will now go on to the Queensland Oaks.”
Shinn was never in doubt aboard Arabian Gold who was coming off her brilliant victory in the Group 3 Packer Plate at Randwick on April 26.
“She did it with flying colours and her class shone through today (Saturday),” Shinn said.
“This is something very special to win in these colours for Mr Moraitis.”
– Racing Queensland
