David Brideoake’s Australasian Oaks winner Princess Jenni will jump from a mid-field barrier after drawing gate nine in a capacity 16 starter edition of the Group 1 $500,000 Queensland Oaks (2200m) at Doomben Racecourse on Saturday.
Final acceptances for the feature race in Brisbane this weekend closed on Wednesday morning and the 2019 Queensland Oaks field drew the full 16 runners plus five emergency hopefuls.
Updated Queensland Oaks odds at Ladbrokes.com.au have the in-form favourite, High Chaparral filly Princess Jenni, as the clear $2.90 top elect as she looks to extend her winning streak to four on the trot.
Jockey Damien Oliver continues his successful association with the Group 1 winner having ridden her in all three lead-up victories including the elite level Australasian Oaks (2000m) at Morphettville on May 4.
She comes into the Queensland Oaks on the back of a four week freshen-up and will come into barrier eight at best if the emergency runners fail to gain a start.
A number of Princess Jenni’s main rivals in Queensland Oaks betting came up with single-digit barriers on Wednesday morning including the $5 second elect Etana in gate seven.
The Ciaron Maher & David Eustace training duo have been enjoying a very successful Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival and will look to continue that on Saturday saddling-up the Shamus Award filly Etana.
A winner of four of her nine career starts to date, she was last seen saluting at the Doomben track on May 18 in the traditional Oaks lead-up with a narrow victory in the Group 2 The Roses (2000m).
The Roses runner-up Aliferous ($7) is the other Queensland Oaks filly on the weekend currently paying under $10 for the win, despite the Kris Lees-trained daughter of Hinchinbrook drawing wide in gate 13 for the staying showdown.
Lees accepted for a total of four fillies in the Queensland Oaks field, but with Itz Lily (19) and Grand Bouquet (12) the second and third emergencies, he is likely to only have Aliferous and Angel Of Heaven in the starting line-up.
Improving Redoute’s Choice filly Angel Of Heaven drew well in barrier three and is an $11 fancy following her eye-catching second behind Queensland Derby hope Fun Fact in last weekend’s Group 3 Grand Prix Stakes (2200m) at Eagle Farm.
Also being kept safe in betting by the bookies at $13 is Our Intrigue (8) representing gun Kiwi horseman Tony Pike whose galloper The Bostonian is favourite for the Stradbroke Handicap after taking out the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 – Kingsford-Smith Cup double this winter.
Showcasing filly Our Intrigue comes off a confidence-boosting lead-up win from May 15 in a three-years-old handicap over the Oaks distance (2200m) at the Sunshine Coast, but needs a Soft – Heavy track to really feature in Saturday’s Group 1.
Trainer Chris Waller meanwhile is after his fourth Queensland Oaks victory in the past five years, the master horseman returning four years on from the race that was second in the incredible Winx winning streak back in 2015.
Waller’s Queensland Oaks fillies in 2019 are: Welsh Legend (20), Savigne (18), Lady Cuvee (10), Duchess Of Lennox (21) and the fifth emergency Re Edit (14).
Duchess Of Lennox is a $10 chance in the Queensland Oaks markets but has work to do from the outside barrier (21 into 16) on Saturday.
The Reliable Man grey won back-to-back Scone races in the autumn before her two lead-up seconds, the latest over 2000m at Doomben in a BenchMark 75 on May 18.
For the full 2019 Queensland Oaks field, barriers, form and latest Group 1 racing odds for the weekend head to Ladbrokes.com.au.