In Brief
- Trouble-free trip to Adelaide for star filly.
- Brunton confident his stable star can take out Australasian Oaks.
- Hela's high cruising speed will have opposition off the bit chasing.
Tasmanian three-year-old filly Hela has arrived in Adelaide safe and sound and poised to run the race of her life in the Group 1 Australasian Oaks over 2000m at Morphettville on Saturday.
The Scott Brunton-trained filly will be attempting to keep her unbeaten record intact at what will be her eighth start.
Hela won the Steve’s Liquor Thousand Guineas over 1600m and demolished a top field in the $100,000 Listed Crowne Plaza Strutt Stakes in Hobart at her next start over 2100m and smashed the track record.
While the Australasian Oaks is clearly her toughest test, times don’t lie and her ability to sprint off a solid tempo is what Brunton is relying on to give him his first Group 1 as a trainer.
Multiple Tasmanian premiership-winning jockey David Pires has been aboard the filly in each of her wins and he will ride the daughter of Night of Thunder on Saturday.
“I couldn’t be happier with how the filly has travelled and that was my only concern when we first decided to tackle this race on Saturday,” Brunton said.
“But she has handled the trip brilliantly and we just need no bad luck in the race to be a big chance.”
Hela is likely to lead as she has exceptional cruising speed but Brunton is mindful of his filly being taken on at some stage of the race.
“If they take her on early then David (Pires) will be able to settle her and she will come back to him so she can take a sit, or role reverse and sit outside of whatever takes him on.
“But it will want to be something with exceptional speed to lead her.”
Some of the corporate betting agencies have installed Hela second favourite at prices ranging from $4.40 to $5 behind the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Steinem that is solid at $4.20.
The Australasian Oaks is race eight on the nine-race program and is scheduled to start at 16.35 Tassie time.
Brunton also has two starters at Sandown in Melbourne on Saturday in stayer Exoteric that tackles a 2400-metre handicap (race 4) and former Singapore sprinter Lim’s Cruiser goes around in an open handicap over 1400m (race 5).
Watch Hela win the Strutt Stakes over 2100m in Hobart in February.