By Mike Dillon
Trevor McKee had two niggling worries going into tomorrow's $250,000 New Zealand Oaks at Trentham.
By far the biggest of them remains - the question of whether Nahayan will run straight under pressure.
But if there was a danger in the field it had to be the rapid riser Yangtze River, and she has had to be withdrawn after suffering leg abrasions in her box on Thursday night.
"She was tied up in her box when a horse in the next box got cast and she became upset," said devastated trainer Stephen Autridge
"She has a bit of swelling and some skin off and there was no chance she could run this weekend.
"It only happens to the good ones and then only when they're ready to do some thing."
Autridge expects Yangtze River to be recovered to run in the $100,000 Sir Tristram Fillies Classic at Te Rapa next month with an Oaks campaign in Australia still a real possibility.
Which leaves Nahayan an even more pronounced standout tomorrow.
The class is there, it is now all up to Nahayan. Given her Derby performance, which should have given her the No 1 classic, she stands out against tomorrow's opposition.
Savannah Success, like a few of her rivals, has yet to confirm she is the perfect 2400m horse, but the way she saw out a tough finish to the 2000m of the Royal Stakes at Ellerslie suggests she will not give in easily.
Pretty Wicked is the interesting runner. She muffed the start of the Derby Trial at Ellerslie and on a day on which it was extremely difficult to make ground from behind, ran on strongly into mid-field.
Her Royal Stakes performance was a bit more one-paced, but you get the impression this race will suit her considerably better.
Soap Opera and No Alimony are chances while the bolter, mainly for place money, is Torch, a tough filly who runs on strongly.
Six lengths separated winner Bawalaksana and Trans Siberia in the Railway at Ellerslie, but it will be much closer in tomorrow's $150,000 Armstrong Jones Telegraph.
This time there is a 2.5kg swing in the weights in Trans Siberia's favour and he is unlikely to suffer the same severe interference that saw him drop to the tail of the field in the first 150m of the Railway.
Bawalaksana will still take plenty of beating though. Despite the weight swing, he still gets 3kg off Trans Siberia and has drawn better at No5 versus No9.
Vain Ana's Railway third was outstanding, given she ran from gate No12. She has drawn wide again and her best chance will be to sit back and hope to dash at the leaders late.
Horse Racing: Nahayan standout Oaks bet
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