Oaks Plan for Hinchinbrook Filly

Last year Mark Newnham won the $60,000 Kennedy Oaks Trial at Flemington with classy staying filly Greysful Glamour and on Wednesday at Flemington he won the same race again, this time with her three year-old half-sister Celestial Falls.

The Hinchinbrook filly won her final start last season over 1550 metres at Randwick, prompting her trainer to look towards the spring and a possible VRC Oaks campaign. Tackling 1800 metres second up for this assignment, she led all the way for Tim Clark to score by more than a length and has now two races and placed twice from five starts earning over $90,000 in prizemoney. "It wasn't the plan to lead but once she was a little bit fresh early, Tim did the right thing and let her stride to the front," Newnham said. "Once she found her rhythm, she backed off nicely and showed a good kick." Greysful Glamour went on to run second to Aristia in last year's VRC Oaks and Newnham said Celestial Falls was a similar type to her half-sister. "They're both very similar apart from the colour really," Newnham said.

"She's a lovely big relaxed filly and always shown she will stay. I didn't have any hesitation with going from 1300(m) to 1800(m) with her second-up. "I've always had the Oaks marked in mind for her." Celestial Falls was a modest $80,000 Magic Millions purchase from the Edinglassie Stud draft for Darby Racing/ De Burgh Equine and is second winner from Rippled (GB), a winning Dalakhani mare from the family of European Group I winners Crystal Music and Zelzal. Rippled had a colt by Hinchinbrook make $150,000 at Inglis Easter this year when bought by Paul Moroney Bloodstock / Ballymore Stables and has a yearling colt to follow by the much missed Yarraman Park sire, who also sired the first two year-old winner in Australia this year in Mildred, who also saluted at flemington.