Newcastle trainer Kris Lees will look to late spring and autumn targets for Amokura after she scored a stunning group 1 Queensland Oaks victory to cap her first racing preparation on Saturday at Eagle Farm.
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A rail-hugging ride from Damien Oliver and impressive finishing burst from Amokura gave Lees his 16th group 1 win and second Oaks north of the border.
Lees, who won the 2005 Oaks with Vitesse Dane, broke a four-year drought in the group 1 arena when Amokura powered to a 1.63-length victory in the $700,000 2200m race for three-year-old fillies.
Amokura, a great granddaughter of Lees' late father Max's champion colt Luskin Star, raced worse than midfield on the fence from a gate one start.
Oliver was able to find a clear run along the rail before bringing Amokura off heels at the 300m mark into space. Amokura did the rest, storming to the front at the 200m and winning easily at just her sixth start and first at stakes level. It also gave Oliver a 128th group 1 success.
Backed from $12 into $8, Amokura made it three wins on the trot. She finished 10 lengths back at Hawkesbury just three starts earlier but entered Oaks calculations with an almost nine-length maiden win at Newcastle. She then secured an Oaks spot with an easy victory on the Sunshine Coast.
It was Lees' first group 1 win since In Her Time took out the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes at Flemington in February 2019.
Although he has claimed bigger prizemoney races, like the $5 million All-Star Mile with Mugatoo and $2 million Big Dance with Rustic Steel in between, Lees was thrilled to win another top-level black-type event.
"You still like to win group 1s," Lees said on Sunday.
"As much as it's more about prizemoney I think these days, when you're training for breeders it's important to get these black-type wins. She will be a valuable filly one day."
As for Amokura's future, he said: "I don't think we'll have any big plans for the spring.
"She's had a long preparation so she'll have a good rest and we'll probably give her a light back-end of the spring, and see where she measures up in the autumn. It's probably got more realistic goals.
"It's only her first race prep, so I think she's got a couple of good seasons of racing ahead of her.
"You are always a bit guarded in their first year out of their own age and sex. It's a bit like coming out of junior footy. It can take them a while to progress to that next level, but we'll see where she aims up at four."
Lees also revealed Amokura's fairy-tale rise was almost denied, after concerns raised during a vet check.
"The vets thought she was just a little short in her action on Thursday, and they'd already scratched the favourite [Fireburn]," he said.
"But she was just a little tender in one foot. Thankfully the farrier came in and had a play around with a shoe. It relieved a bit of tension and she was fine.
"We weren't that concerned but it's always just a little concern that it can be taken out of your own hands.
"I was confident she would run well. You are always a bit guarded when they are jumping so much in grade, but that can happen in an Oaks, racing against your own age and sex. It comes down to timing of where they're at."
At Rosehill on Saturday, Newcastle trainer Scott Aspery won the Midway Handicap with Uzziah, while Scone trainer Lou Mary claimed the Highway Handicap with Proverbial, ridden by Newcastle apprentice Dylan Gibbons.
On Sunday at Muswellbrook, Ash Morgan rode a winning treble which included the Shorty Cribb Aberdeen Cup aboard Rising for Scone trainer Brett Cavanough.
On Saturday, Lees told Sky Racing: "They can come from nowhere in an Oaks, can't they.
"She always showed us something. It's her first race prep, so we were always guarded 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 a view of trying to sneak her in with a bit of prizemoney and she done that at the Sunshine Coast, and snuck into the race.
"We got Ollie to come up to ride and the rest is history.
"She probably got further back than we were thinking from the nice draw, but she tracked up lovely coming to the corner and it was just a matter of getting some clear air.
"He still had plenty of horse left and he weaved a passage and got the job done.
"All along she gave the impression she'd get over ground. Just where her ceiling was, we weren't sure, when running over shorter trips.
"But when she won that race at Newcastle, I said we better start making plans."
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Craig Kerry
Craig Kerry is a sports reporter for the Newcastle Herald.
Craig Kerry is a sports reporter for the Newcastle Herald.
