An Oaks path is being tipped for three-year-old filly Leica Lucy following her debut win in the Christmas At The Races Friday 5th December (1400m) at New Plymouth on Wednesday.
Favourite Merchant Banker flew the gates and assumed an early lead, while jockey Joe Doyle was able to find the rail three deep with Leica Lucy and follow the speed.
The pack swung wide when turning for home on the rain-affected surface, but Doyle elected to take the shortest way home and continued to stalk Merchant Banker, drawing level with 250m to go and Leica Lucy was able to get the better of her rival in the concluding stages to win by 1.5 lengths.
“It was pretty smooth,” Doyle said post-race.
“She jumped nicely, I kept Merchant Banker in our sights the whole way. I thought he would definitely be in front at the 200m and if we had the horse we should run by.”
Local trainer Robbie Patterson has had a lot of time for the daughter of Derryn and believes she is capable of tackling some big targets this season.
“She is a filly that has always shown us a lot,” he said.
“When she was a two-year-old she had to have a bone chip taken out of her knee, so it has just taken a while to get her here. She has got Oaks written all over her, she is a lovely filly.”
While she handled the Soft 7 surface on Wednesday, Patterson believes Leica Lucy will be suited by better going over summer and early autumn.
“I think she is better on a better track,” he said.
“She trialled up really nicely on a Good track the other day. She is a real rangy filly who is going to take a little bit of time.
“She doesn’t carry a lot of weight, so we will just look after her and pick our way through the grades.”
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