As Time Goes By Looks to Give Sire Back-to-Back Wins

Sam Freedman has backed the royally bred As Time Goes By (AUS) to repel the triple threat of three peas in a pod from the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stable, and a formidable raider from the west, and provide Deep Impact with back-to-back Australasian Oaks (G1) titles April 29.

A homebred for John Camilleri, whose Fairway Thoroughbreds CV boasts probably the finest Australian female of all time in Winx , As Time Goes By is from the final crop of the late, great Deep Impact, out of another Camilleri mare in dual stakes winner A Time For Julia.

She heads into Morphettville’s 2,000-meter group 1 having finally fulfilled her pedigree and promise with a breakthrough win at her eighth start, in the Clare Lindop Stakes April 1.

By design, Freedman and his father Anthony have given the lightly framed filly four weeks off since that run, which franked the potential shown last spring with her third in the Wakeful Stakes (G2) and fifth in the VRC Oaks (G1).

Bookmakers this week had As Time Goes By around the AU$13 mark behind the Edward Cummings-trained favorite, Australian Oaks (G1) fifth-place finisher Arts.

Between them sat exciting West Australian She’s Fit, an AU$7 chance after providing Blue Diamond Stakes (G1) winner Pride Of Dubai  with more staying sire honors with her WA Oaks (G3) victory and WA Derby (G2) third.

Next in the market came Affaire a Suivre at AU$7.50, Jennilala at AU$8.50, and Running On Time at AU$10, three fillies whose co-trainer Maher said are “almost identical” on type and other markers, such as stride length and frequency.

Should As Time Goes By win the 42nd Australasian Oaks, she’d give Japanese super sire Deep Impact his second straight win in the race following Glint Of Hope’s triumph last season. She would be his sixth winner from just 20 group 1 starters in Australia—also joining Tosen Stardom , Fierce Impact , Real Impact , and Profondo—and his 59th elite-level victor worldwide.

It’s partly the sire, and his nationality, that gives Sam Freedman confidence in his filly, despite gate 14 and the fact she just clung on to win by a nose last start over other rivals in Party Princess and makes the arduous rise from 1,600 meters to 2,000 meters Saturday.

“This was always the plan. We didn’t want to go back and forth to Adelaide too many times. We could have run her a fortnight later in a 1,800–meter race like a few of the others did, but she’s a lean, fit filly, and she doesn’t require a whole lot of work. She keeps herself fit, and she should perform best on this little gap between runs,” Freedman said of As Time Goes By, who’s been on light morning work duties and daytime paddock hours at the stable’s Pinecliff property near Melbourne since her last start.

“She was very consistent last spring and raced to a very good level, without winning. She was doing it on a bit of raw talent without really knowing what she was doing, and was still getting her act together in terms of her action.

“But she’s furnished a bit, and getting that win last start was good for her.”

Freedman said jockey Jake Toeroek would likely ease As Time Goes By rearward from the tricky gate, much like last start when she settled ninth of 14, and with a high tempo likely in the 16-runner field she should be suited in the run.

“She’s covered the trip before, so I don’t think that will be an issue,” he said. “We’ll be conservative out of the gates, get her to switch off, and she’ll be running the trip out fine.

“Hopefully it’ll be back-to-back wins in the race for Deep Impact. These horses by Japanese sires have great engines in them. They’re a tough breed who handle their training well, and appreciate having the pace on in races. A lot of the Japanese races are run at a strong tempo, and our filly really likes that, so we’re hopeful of seeing them run along.”

Freedman also hopes to have the best of ‘times’ today, adding he expects the main danger to As Time Goes By will be Running On Time.

That filly, bred by the Little Avondale Trust at the New Zealand stud where her sire Time Test  stands, is marginally the longest-priced of Maher-Eustace’s three starters. But she kept working to the line when a length-and-a-half second to Affaire a Suivre against the males last start in the Port Adelaide Guineas April 15.

Maher himself nominated his team’s strongest chance as Jennilala, who came from the back to win impressively against the fillies in the Auraria Stakes (G3) on the same day. But he said it was hard to split his trio, in more ways than one.

“The three of them are almost identical horses on assessing their stride length and frequency, and where they are in their prep,” Maher said.

“There’s not much between the three of them but Jennilala’s probably going to get the nicest run from her gate (two). She won well last start, and had to do a bit of work. We’d expect her to be up close behind the pace this time. Affair a Suivre, you’d think will be in the second half from her gate (16 without the emergencies), and Running On Time rolls the dice from gate 9.”

Declan Bates retains the ride on Jennilala, John Allen again partners Affaire a Suivre, while veteran Damien Oliver replaces Jessica Eaton aboard Running On Time.