Australasian Oaks (G1) winner Benagil will bid to bounce back from a last-start 10th placing in The Roses (G2) when she lines up in the June 7 Queensland Oaks (G1) at Eagle Farm Racecourse. The Glen Thompson-trained filly was badly checked in the straight in the group 2 contest before being eased off by jockey Mark Zahra, and her trainer is hoping for a better run in transit as she bids for an Oaks double.
"She pulled up with a few scrapes and scratches after her last run, it was a bit of a messy race for her," Thompson told Racing.com of The Roses run. "But (she) bounced through the run really well, she's been nice and fresh since her run. She's pretty tough and it didn't seem to worry her too much. It was a messy race, but she seems to have come through it well.
"I guess the only benefit was that she didn't have a gut-buster. Nice piece of work this morning, Ryan Wiggins came and galloped her for me, he was really happy. He said she had a bit of a look around out there, (it was her) first time out on the course proper here, you sort of expect that, but we're very happy."
Vandyke Hopes to Land Second Oaks Win
Sunshine Coast-based trainer David Vandyke is hopeful that Philia can hand him a second win in the Queensland Oaks when the in-form filly tackles the 2,200-meter (about 1 3/8-mile) group 1. Vandyke claimed the Queensland Oaks for the first time with his star filly Gypsy Goddess in 2022 and also sent out Arabian Gold to finish second to Tinto in 2014.
"Gypsy Goddess and Arabian Gold had different paths because of different circumstances," Vandyke told Racing Queensland. "I didn't want to run Arabian Gold at the Gold Coast that year because I preferred the Doomben and Eagle Farm tracks which were playing better than the Gold Coast at the time."
Philia, who has been the recipient of plenty of interest from potential buyers, has won her last four starts including the Princess Stakes and The Roses in the most recent two.
"We had a call from someone wanting to buy her, but the money has to be very big to sell," Vandyke said. "She's a progressive filly and hopefully some bigger races are ahead of her. It would take a lot of money for her owners to sell. She's ticked all the boxes so far except 2,200 meters. She looks great and is working well but the 2,200 meters is our main concern. It'll be tougher at Eagle Farm than when she won The Roses at Doomben as Eagle Farm is a tougher track than Doomben."
