Delicacy Shoots Clear in Schweppes Oaks
Description:
Western Australia's star filly Delicacy ran down pacesetter Fenway and won the AUS$400,000 Australasian Schweppes Oaks (Aus-I) May 2 at Morphettville.
Delicacy was well back early in the field of 16 and held up in traffic when Fenway's lead was cut, as the field swept around the home turn. The front-runner found another gear and skipped away again, appearing en route to victory when a gap opened and Delicacy shot through. Unleashing a devastating turn of foot for Peter Hall, Delicacy spurted past Fenway and drew off to win by 1 1/4 lengths.
Fenway held on for second, with Bahamas 1 1/2 lengths back in third. Favorite Fontein Ruby struggled in to finish 11th.
The time for 2,000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles) was 2:03.38 on good turf.
The Oaks win marked the fifth straight victory, all stakes, for Delicacy, a daughter of Al Maher who races as a homebred for Peters Investments and is trained by Grant Williams. She has a 9-1-2 record from 13 starts, which also includes wins in the W.A. Oaks (Aus-III) in March and Schweppes W.A.T.C. Derby (Aus-II) in April in her two starts prior to Saturday's race, and the W. A. One Thousand Guineas in February, all at Ascot.
Delicacy's dam is the winning Scenic mare Simply Wicked