Toffee Nose sniffs a Group 1

She’s now won more than $230,000 without a stakes victory but that box might be ticked as soon as two weeks time for Toffee Nose after she showed impressive staying talent to win the $250,000 VOBIS Gold Heath at Caulfield on Saturday.

Toffee Nose’s trainer Danny O’Brien said he’d long had next month’s Australasian Oaks mapped out for the filly and now was counting the days until the Group 1 classic following the filly’s win against older horses over 2000 metres.

"She ran a great race (fourth) in the Wakeful last spring but as it was her first campaign we didn’t go to the (VRC) Oaks, instead thinking about the Adelaide (Australasian) Oaks," O’Brien explained.

"She was strong to the line here and so if she can run as we’d hope in Adelaide, I think we’d probably take her to Queensland for the mile-and-a-half (2400m) group 1 Oaks.

"She’s out of a Galileo mare and she looks as though she will stay."

Toffee Nose, who cost just $85,000 as a yearling, settled midfield from her inside barrier but jockey Damian Lane got busy on her before the home turn and she built up enough momentum to get by $2.80 favourite Ruthven, who was left a length in her wake at the finish.

Story by Andrew Eddy, to view full story click here

Pic by Racing Photos