While Oaks Cassanova and Sam Overton winning the Werribee World Cup Qualifier was certainly a highlight for us, the DJWTS show provided a canvas for a number of Oaks horses to showcase their ability and promise.
Despite a brilliant fifth place in round 1 of the 6-year-old Championship by Oaks Boy From Oz and Chloe Latham, we couldn’t quite manage to get any of our three representatives in this class into the 10 combination final. Out of a total of 41 combinations entered in the competition, it was a very creditable result to see Oaks Boy From Oz and Chloe Latham finish in 13th place, mare Oaks Evita and Jess Brown finish 15th and Oaks Quinella and Emily Riley in 16th.
In the 7-year-old competition Oaks had two representatives. Oaks Etna, ridden by Caitlin Bolger, after coming 10th in Round 1, showed their true capability in Round 2, finishing second and easily qualifying for the top 10 final, where they went on to finish 9th overall in the category. Oaks Sierra and Jess Brown were 13th then 6th in the rounds, unluckily placing them 11th overall, just one spot out of being invited to compete in the final.
In the Bronze Series, Oaks Diamantina and Sarah Duggan were undoubtedly the star combination of our four horses entered. This wonderful mare achieved second placings in both the preliminary rounds in fields well in excess of 40 combinations, all without disturbing a rail. In the final, they were again clear, qualifying for a 5-way jump-off, however, their first rail of the show took away their chance of victory, finishing up in third place overall. Oaks 007, ridden by Jennifer Wood went through the two preliminary rounds without a rail, however they finished in 18th place on the leaderboard, just missing out on the top 15 final. Likewise, Oaks Evergreen TS with James Paterson-Robinson aboard and Oaks Ever Red ridden by Ally Lamb, both missed out on a place in the final 15, despite the latter finishing a very strong double clear 8th in the first round.
In the Ruby Series, Oaks Charleville with Sally Simmonds aboard put together a strong showing. In the first round, they were clear for a 4th place finish before putting together a pair of clears in Round 2 to finish in third. Easily qualifying for the final, they went on to finish in 8th place overall.
Oaks Van Dyke, with Rhys Hamblin in the saddle had an interesting show. They appeared in the Ruby series for just one round where they finished 8th, before moving over to the Bronze Series. Here, they finished in 19th and 11th place in the rounds, all while leaving the rails intact. Unfortunately for them, however, these performances left them in 16th place on the leaderboard, just missing out on a spot in the top 15 combination final.
In the World Cup qualifier, along with Oaks Cassanova, there were two other Oaks horses which appeared on the 22-combination start list. Cassanova’s half brother Oaks Conjuror, piloted by Clem Smith finished the World Cup Qualifier in 12th place after taking a pair of rails in each round of the two-round class. Also, in only their second World Cup Qualifier appearance, gelding Oaks Constantino with 20-year-old Tilley Fair in the saddle placed 15th after taking three rails in the first round of the competition. This came after the pair had, the previous day, put in a clear round to finish 4th in a field of 20 in an open 1.40m class.
It was a strong show for us and the promise that the young horses have shown all goes well for a promising future.