KEY POINTS:
MELBOURNE - Trainer David Hayes has warned that the biggest danger to Miss Finland in today's VRC Oaks (2500m) at Flemington might not come from favourite Tuesday Joy but from one of his own.
Hayes will have four runners in the group one classic for fillies with Golden Slipper and Thousand Guineas winner Miss Finland the most favoured of the quartet.
Also representing Hayes in the A$750,000 ($865,000) race will be Wakeful Stakes placegetter Anamato, Ulfah and the lightly-raced Sefrah.
While Hayes was impressed with Tuesday Joy's sweeping victory in Saturday's Wakeful at Flemington he said she got the race run to suit and may not enjoy that advantage today.
"Her win was very good.
"She was probably flattered by the tempo, they went very hard early," Hayes said.
"Everything went right for her and she will be an obvious danger, although maybe we didn't see the main one run [on Saturday]."
When asked which horse he was referring to, Hayes smiled wryly and confirmed it was Sefrah.
She has started just five times for two wins and two thirds, the latest when placed behind Amitola and Rendzina in a three-year-old fillies plate at Caulfield last month.
Prior to that she was an eye-catching fifth to She Will Be Loved in the group two Edward Manifold Stakes at Flemington and Hayes said she had been prepared all spring with the Oaks in mind.
He deliberately bypassed the Wakeful with her and believes she will relish the step up in trip from 2000m to 2500m.
"She is a dead-set mile-and-a-half horse and I thought running her in the Wakeful might do more harm than good," Hayes said.
"She's been set for the Oaks."
Miss Finland was confirmed as an Oaks runner after she passed a crucial track gallop on Sunday.
The filly was a brave last-start sixth to Fields Of Omagh in the Cox Plate but, having showed enough brilliance to win a Slipper (1200m) and a Guineas (1600m), there are doubts over her stamina at 2500m.
"We will find out if she runs a mile-and-a-half on Thursday, which is important for future planning," Hayes said.
"But she is in great order.
"She is very good and very tough. It's a good combination.
"She hasn't left an oat since the Cox Plate, not one."
Tuesday Joy and Miss Finland yesterday dominated Oaks betting with the former at $2.40 with TAB Sportsbet, shading Miss Finland who was at $2.90.
Sefrah was on the third line of betting at $11 with Anamato $13 and Ulfah $26.
Hayes is chasing his first victory in the VRC Oaks.
* New Zealand TAB fixed-odds markets:
$2.50 Tuesday Joy; $3 Miss Finland; $9 Sefrah; $11 Anamato, J'adane; $15 Gallant Tess; $30 Ulfah; $35 Rendzina; $40 Fuji Fantasy; $60 Golden Zen; $100 Kisumu, Rena's Lady; $125 Claudiawest; $200 Viognier, Mary Goodnight, Lady Gracious.
