Mamounia faces tough test at Australasian Oaks
DUBAI: Improving three-year-old Mamounia has been trained to the minute but champion jockey Damien Oliver will have to produce one of his finest rides for the filly to give Godolphin its first G1 Australasian Oaks win in Adelaide on Saturday. Mamounia goes into the G1 feature over 2,000m ater a placing in the G3 Adrian Knox Stakes (2,000m) behind stablemate Honeycreeper at Royal Randwick before a tough win in the Listed Galilee Series Final at Flemington.
The daughter of Medaglia d’oro outstayed her rivals over the 2,400m trip and the run should have her primed to tackle the big Oaks field at Morphetville field despite Mamounia drawing the extreme outside barrier.
Even with emergencies out, Mamounia will jump from gate 16 in a shorter race appearing devoid of natural speed, except for Ancient Girl.
But the booking of Oliver and her lead-up runs have given head trainer James Cummings confidence in Mamounia geting Godolphin on the Oaks honour roll and adding a precious G1 to her black-type success in Melbourne.
“She’s airborne, I think,” Cummings said. “She pulled up great from her last-start win.”
Mamounia beat The Cunning Fox and Fearentless that day, with the pair then franking the form with placings behind the Cummings-trained Alegron in the Listed VRC St Leger over 2,800m at Flemington on Anzac Day.
“We resisted the temptation of running her in the St Leger, as I thought we had that covered and thought we should be concentrating on the Oaks with her,” Cummings said.
“It was good to see The Cunning Fox run well in the St Leger and we recognised he was the horse to beat in the Galilee Series Final.”
While the 400m drop back in distance is a slight concern, Mamounia should appreciate the return to fillies grade. Interestingly, Anamato won the Oaks in 2007. She is the dam of current Godolphin stable star Anamoe.
Elsewhere, four other Cummings-trained gallopers will contest valuable Stakes races on Saturday. Character and Plymstock are entered for Eagle Farm in Brisbane, with Vilana and Criaderas down to run at the stand-alone Hawkesbury Cup meeting.
Meanwhile, globetroting middle-distance star Yibir aims for the perfect warm-up to another Stateside visit in the G2 Jockey Club Stakes on day one of Newmarket’s Guineas Festival on Friday. The Dubawi four-year-old was crowned Champion Male Turf Horse at the 2021 Eclipse Awards following two sensational wins in the United States, storming home in both Belmont Park’s Jockey Club Derby and the G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar (pictured).
Yibir was narrowly denied on his seasonal return for Charlie Appleby on Dubai World Cup Night as he quickened powerfully from the rear to go down by a neck to Shahryar in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic.
Charlie Appleby said: “We have been delighted with Yibir since his return from Dubai. He surprised us with how well he took his race in the Dubai Sheema Classic and has continued to show his wellness back in Newmarket.”