23 Feb 2022Farm graduate Miss Ella has pressed her G1 New Zealand Oaks claims with an emphatic frontrunning victory at Pukekohe Park.
The daughter of Iffraaj left nothing to chance by making all the running in the Listed Oaks Prelude and, after skipping away 400 metres from home, she coasted to the line to score by 2.5l.
It was a performance that saw the Stephen Marsh-trained representative’s Oaks odds cut from $21 to $12 for the 2400 metre classic at Trentham next month.
“She jumped and put herself there and travelled beautifully throughout. I thought her turn of foot at the top of the straight was good and she won with a fair bit in hand,” Marsh said.
While a series of postponements have hampered Miss Ella’s preparation toward the Oaks at Trentham next month, Marsh is still confident he can get his filly to the March 19 feature.
“It is not ideal, but she is a stakes winner now and she is beautifully bred. It just means we have to run Saturday week in the Sunline Vase and then onto the Oaks if we can.”
Our congratulations go out to Albert Bosma’s Go Racing syndication company who secured Miss Ella from our draft at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale at Karaka for $240,000.
She is a daughter of the G1 Queensland Oaks runner-up Zenella, who produced an Almanzor filly in 2021 and is back in foal to our shuttle stallion again.
Zenella’s dam Diamond Like was a stakes winner and Group 1 performer and a sister to the G1 VRC Derby winner Viking Ruler and the family of the legendary Eight Carat family.