Queensland Oaks (Group 1)

IN three starts, the Kermadec filly Amokura has gone from winning a 1,850m Newcastle maiden to landing the Group 1 Queensland Oaks over Eagle Farm’s 2,200m for trainer Kris Lees.

“They can come from nowhere,” observed her trainer of the home-bred filly. “She always showed us something.

“It’s her first race preparation, so we were guarded with how far we could go with her but she put the writing on the wall with her win at Newcastle by a big margin, so we brought her up with the view of trying to sneak her in with a bit of prize money,” added Lees.

“All along she gave us the impression she’d get over ground, just where her ceiling was we weren’t sure, we were running over shorter trips. When she won that race at Newcastle, I said we better start making plans.”

Ridden by Damien Oliver, the win was the West Australian-born hoop’s 128th Group 1 win.

“She’s not only got a good turn-of-foot, she stays well too. When the race is run at that sort of tempo, for a filly that runs a strong distance, that helps.”

Emerging from the middle of the 18-horse field, Amokura ground out an impressive win, posting a two-length margin over the 100/1 Rubick filly Reo with the Maurice filly Noah ’N’ A Deel a further two lengths away, just ahead of the race favourite Renaissance Woman by Reliable Man.

A TRIO of Melbourne track managers along with Racing Victoria staffers have just returned from a two-week trip to Europe gathering ideas for the 980-acre parcel of land Racing Victoria has purchased just near Melbourne airport.

“We went on a mission to gain the best insights into the best training facilities they have in Europe and bring those ideas back to Australia, and certainly in mind with the land that’s been purchased out at Oaklands by Racing Victoria,” said Flemington Track manager Liam O’Keeffe.

Highlights

“We want to make sure we have the best plans for the concept that will be released in a couple of months by Racing Victoria. The highlights were Willie Mullins in Ireland, Aidan and Joseph O’Brien’s and the Curragh.

“We went to many training centres at Newmarket, the Godolphin private training facilities were probably the highlight there, and then we ventured on down to France for Chatlilly and a couple of racecourses there. We have seen plenty and met some great people and certainly came back with some great ideas,” added O’Keeffe. “There’s a blank canvas to work with and it would be nice to build a world-class training facility. It’s a really exciting project.”

CHAMPION jumps jockey Steven Pateman and his wife Jess have been handed an 11-month ban by Racing Victoria dating from a 2017 elevated reading to cobalt returned by their Sir Walter Scott.

The disqualification starts from June 9th, after a five-year battle to clear their names, following this week’s Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearing.

The ban means Pateman, a dual licence-holder will not be able to ride for the remainder of the jumps season and will not be able to train or ride at next year’s Warrnambool May Racing Carnival.

“We’re shattered by yesterday’s ruling, as it will deprive us of the thing that we love doing most, but our only realistic option is to accept the decision and put this difficult time behind,” said the Patemans in a prepared statement.

Clear name

“There are further avenues available to us to potentially clear our name, but they would be costly, lengthy and emotionally draining processes that neither of us are up for, after a process that has gone on for over five years.

“Horses are a huge part of our lives and have been for as long as we can remember, but this will give us both an opportunity to step back from the intensity of racing, a rare opportunity in this industry.

“We won’t be making any further comment for now and ask that you respect our privacy.”