Racing: Foreal reminds Butt of great filly from the past

Champion driver Anthony Butt only has to utter three words to halt any argument over who will win tonight's $100,000 Great Northern Oaks at Alexandra Park: Under Cover Lover.

Under Cover Lover was the name of the freakish filly Butt drove to win the 1998 edition of the Oaks, when she came from barrier nine to win by seven lengths.

That was just one of 21 career victories for Under Cover Lover, who raced against the best of her age in the world and retired the winner of nearly $900,000 and undoubtedly one of the best fillies produced in New Zealand.

So when Butt starts comparing Foreal, the filly he drives in tonight's classic, with Under Cover Lover the $1.40 fixed odds price starts looking a bit tempting.

Foreal is unbeaten this season and has crushed all of her rivals tonight in winning the first two legs of the Alexandra Park fillies' triple crown.

Butt has always known Foreal had talent but it was her latest win, in the $90,000 Sires Stakes Championship, which started him comparing the two great fillies.

"Before then I knew she was good but that win last start was something else. That was the sort of thing Under Cover Lover used to do," said Butt

"She reminded me of her that night and she has trained on well since so I am going into this one as confident as I can be."

Making tonight's race even easier for Foreal is the fact the next best filly in the country, Molly Darling, has not resumed so far this season and the best juvenile filly from last season, Kamwood Cully, is racing lengths below her best.

That has left the filly crop without any great depth and it is hard to envisage many of Foreal's rivals improving enough tonight to beat her.

While her draw of barrier seven appears hardly ideal, Foreal should come into barrier six after scratchings and from there Butt will undoubtedly head forward in the first 800m to look for the lead, particularly as the most likely leaders, Robyn Blue or Idancedallnight, would be happy to trail.

If Foreal reaches the front only a massive form reversal or bizarre bad luck will bring about her defeat.

Robyn Blue looks the most likely challenger.

She has blossomed since coming north in September and has the gate speed to hold the front until Foreal gets there and then the courage to stick on her back and be towed into second.

That scenario would also aid Miss Bubbles, who follows Robyn Blue out from one on the second line.

Miss Bubbles stormed into second behind Foreal last start and will love a hard 2700m, with her trainer-driver Ken Barron not conceding victory to the favourite without a fight.

"Foreal will be very hard to beat but I was happy with my filly last start and the 2700m will suit her," said Barron.

"I know the favourite will be hard to beat but she had the perfect run to win last start and I think if we had had that same trip we could have won that race, too."

Kamwood Cully is the enigma of the event.

She was brilliant last season when trained by Mark Purdon but does not appear to have come back the same filly.

She is good enough to test the favourite at her peak but she would need to improve 10 lengths on her latest outing to do so.

While the Oaks is the undoubted highlight of tonight's meeting from a racing viewpoint, for punters the major interest will be in the Pick6, which is a guaranteed $200,000 after jackpotting from last Thursday's meeting at Alexandra Park.

It starts earlier than usual, on race three, and even though the fields are small it will provide punters with a real test.

Foreal is the most obvious anchor, while Bury My Heart, Cullermein and Tranquility look the only hopes in race five.

Two pacing handicaps provide a difficult start to the jackpot chase while the last two legs couldn't be more different: the trot has too many good chance to choose from while in the last race there is virtually nothing to recommend any of the runners.