Oscietra pleases as debut looms large
THE first foal of champion mare Black Caviar only has to please Lindsay Park in the next week to book herself a raceday debut at Flemington.
Oscietra passed her second test with flying colours, winning a Flemington 800m jumpout early yesterday.
Ridden by Luke Nolen, who rode the unbeaten Black Caviar in 22 of her 25 career wins, Oscietra was watched by senior Lindsay Park trainer David Hayes, his son Ben and the majority of her owners.
Hayes snr declared Oscietra just had to continue to please him during the week for her to run on New Year’s Day at the same track where her famous mother won on debut.
And Hayes won’t be overly concerned if Melbourne’s upcoming warm spell continues through to the meeting.
“She just has to eat at a normal level and be sound in her legs for her to run, and I’ll only run her if I’m 100 per cent happy with her,” Hayes said.
“She’s got a good temperament. I’d run her in any conditions, if I’m happy.”
Oscietra had adapted well to stable life, with her appetite increasing since her first jumpout on December 9.
“She’s eating all her feed and she’s eating extra feed, so that’s a great sign,” Hayes said.
“When she first came to me she was a little bit of a light eater and now she’s above average. Her food intake suggests she’s starting to peak.”
While Oscietra wasn’t pushed in her first jumpout, Nolen gave her a more serious hitout yesterday.
Hayes said there was a big difference between the sectional times in her hit-outs, going from one of the slowest two weeks ago to being one of the fastest yesterday.
“Luke was very happy with her and the time looked quite solid,” said Hayes, who will be guided by how Oscietra runs on debut.
“If everything goes right I would like to back off a little bit and maybe run her in a Blue Diamond Prelude,” he said.