Ladies Oaks Day is arguably the best day of the Brisbane Winter Carnival and the best race on Ladies Oaks Day is arguably the Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2200m).
The second half of that opening statement is obviously a joke – clearly the sole Group 1 feature race is the highlight, but I am also more than happy to stand by it being the best day of the carnival. In a nutshell, everything is in full flight, but it isn’t nearly as overcrowded as Stradbroke Day is. You don’t have to wait in an hour-long line for two beers at a time and the lime green Lowes special doesn’t pop out at every turn.
We’re due a nice little feature race winner and I think I’m pretty on the mark with the 2019 Queensland Oaks tips below.
Suggested Bets
- 2 units on the nose #1 Princess Jenni
- Boxed trifecta & first four of the below selections
There’s a reason that this horse is the Queensland Oaks market favourite and I think that she just wins. David Brideoake has unearthed a really nice filly in Princess Jenni and she just continues to improve as the bar is raised. She clearly needed the run when she finished mid-pack in the Group 2 Kewney first-up in March, but she’s since recorded three-consecutive wins in black type company, including the Group 1 Australasian Oaks. Ollie delivered an absolute gem to win that race and can replicate those tactics from barrier 9, while I also think that the small rise in trip will suit at this point of her prep.
I know that I’ve gone one-two in market order here, but for a change I think that the bookies have just about got it right. Etana has been up and racing for a quite a while, but she’s continued to return high quality performances and will carry winning form into this race after beating a lot of these rivals to the line in the Group 2 The Roses a fortnight ago. She’s drawn well and will be piloted by Johnny Allen again, while Ciaron Maher also knows a thing or two about saddling a Group 1 winner. She’ll be tough to beat.
You simply cannot write off a New Zealand stayer in Australia and if the 2019 Brisbane Winter Carnival has told us anything, you simply cannot write off anything trained by Tony Pike. Our Intrigue has enjoyed an excellent preparation so far and recorded consecutive wins in her homeland before finishing second in the Group 2 Championship Stakes at Ellerslie. She clearly needed the run when she finished seventh in the Listed Bracelet on the Gold Coast upon debuting over here, but she has tuned up with an easy win on the Sunshine Coast and is ready for another big run. She looks the value in this field at $13.
Aliferous has been a strong and consistent performer this time and she would not look out of place in the finish of the Queensland Oaks. The Hinchinbrook filly won the Group 3 Adrian Knox before finishing fourth in the Group 1 Australian Oaks, and she resumed from a freshen-up to finish second in The Roses a fortnight ago. She’ll take plenty of improvement into this and the only reason that I don’t have her higher in the order is because she could be forced to do too much work from barrier 13.