Australasian Oaks Fillies Pulchritudinous, Positivity and Qali Al Farrasha to clash again in A$1m

Pulchtridudinous winning the NZ Oaks on March 16.

The fillies who completed a trifecta in the New Zealand Oaks just a month ago will meet under different circumstances in Adelaide on Saturday.

While Pulchritudinous, Positivity and Qali Al Farrasha take their Tentham form to the A$1 million ($1.09m) Australasian Oaks, Pulchritdinous now has different trainers and this Oaks is a different distance.

The NZ Oaks winner has joined the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable in Sydney, after being trained to victories in both the Lowland Stakes and Oaks here by Chad Ormsby.

A controlling interest in the filly was purchased by racing giants Yulong, in whose colours she will race on Saturday.

The Australasian Oaks is only 2000m, whereas most Oaks are 2400m - not that it’s likely to be an issue for Pulchritudinous, as she was impressive over that distance in the Lowland after it was moved to Taupō in March.

Following a soft-trial third placing at Randwick, Pulchritudinous is an $8 chance for Saturday’s Group 1 under new jockey Tim Clark, so the bookies rate her far higher than the two fillies she defeated last month.

Both Andrew Forsman’s Positivity (second in the NZ Oaks) and Te Akau’s Qali Al Farrasha (third) have also made the journey across the Tasman and will be looking to turn the tables on Pulchrutidinous.

Both are daughters of in-form Cambridge Stud stallion Almanzor, with Positivity to be ridden by red-hot ex-pat jockey Michael Dee on Saturday.

She is rated a $26 chance in Australia but after winning the Sunline Vase at Ellerslie could be even better-placed over 2000m than the 2400m at Trentham, so she seems great value on a track that often suits those able to run handy to the speed.

Qali Al Farrasha, trained by Mark Walker, has jumped out at Cranbourne twice since her shift to Australia, with her second effort much better than her first.

She is a slightly shorter $21 despite finishing a length behind Positivity at Trentham and will be partnered by Billy Egan at Morphettville.

Pulchritudinous has drawn barrier 7 in the Oaks, Positivity barrier 8 but Qali Al Farrasha will start from barrier 16, after drawing 19 with three emergencies to come out.

The fillies aren’t the only Kiwi reps on Saturday in a rare New Zealand assault on South Australian racing, as Skew Wiff and Wonderful Tonight, who races here as Imwonderfultonight, both start in the A$1m Robert Sangster Stakes.

Skew Wiff is already a Group 1 winner at Hastings this season but has raced in Victoria for much of this term, winning at Flemington. She will be also be ridden by Dee.

Wonderful Tonight will be returning home after starting her career in Australia, and had had a consistent season in some of New Zealand’s best sprint races for young Cambridge trainer Sam Mynott.

She will be ridden by Craig Williams as she chases an elite-level win to seal her broodmare career before she heads to stud in the spring.

Forsman won’t have to wait until Saturday for his shot at black type in Australia, though, as he has impressive Pukekohe debut winner Yaldi making his Australian debut in the A$175,000 Anzac Day Stakes at Flemington tomorrow.

The son of Ardrossan is the $4.80 equal favourite for the Listed 1400m event.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.