Racing: Treasure's odds slashed for Oaks after easy win

Treasure wins the Oaks Prelude on Saturday. Photo / Race Images

Is a price reduction from $81 to $12 for the Oaks just that or is it a slaughter? Definitely the latter.

That's the case of Treasure after her runaway victory in the Oaks Prelude at New Plymouth on Saturday.

On paper Saturday's field looked full of emerging types if a little short of what might go on to take the Al Basti Equiworld Oaks at Trentham, but all that changed with Treasure's winning performance.

If the $12 now seems a touch of unders, trainer Tony Pike doesn't think so. "We've always had a huge opinion of her, she's just taken a couple of starts to get it all together. We'd have been surprised if she'd been beaten." The value of the performance can be gauged by the fact chasing her home was stablemate Caricature, who had sat wide and been impressive in winning last start at Matamata at only her second visit to the races.

Pike is undecided whether Treasure will take on the Lowland Stakes or the Sunline Vase as an Oaks lead-up.

Treasure's rider Michael McNab opened the day with victory on Anarchy, but it hasn't really been his week. He was smashed in the face when a horse reared its head back in an early race at Matamata on Thursday and was forced to stand down.

A race after Anarchy, McNab angled well fancied Scrutinize across the back of the field from a wide gate, clipped a heel and was thrown from the saddle, shaken but essentially uninjured. He looked a good chance to make it a treble for the day aboard second favourite Master Pat in the last, but the in-form gelding was found to be lame at the start and was late scratched. Two favourites ran shockers at New Plymouth. Matauri, a recent devastating debut winner, dropped out and finished a long last in Race 4 and the $80,000 Taranaki Cup elect Seraphim never raised a hope and beat two home. Jake Bayliss told stewards Seraphim had felt flat throughout the race. Co-trainer Steven Ramsay said he would take blood tests to see if there was a reason for the lacklustre performance.

There was a definite track bias at Wingatui on Saturday. The country's leading rider Sam Collett made the most of it by taking the $50,000 Harcourts Dunedin Guineas favourite Excelleration out to just beyond the centre of the track before the home turn - the place where you had to be. Excelleration won so easily perhaps it made little difference, but the ride that looked ugly was actually a touch of class. Collett used the same intelligence to win the last on stablemate Los Cabos, but in reverse.

It stands to reason that if almost all the horses in each race swing to the centre or outside of the track, by the last race there is a fair chance the inside couple of lanes will provide the best footing even though a no-go area early.

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