Myboycharlie filly Jameka will continue her classic campaign after another pleasing finish in the G1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Trainer Ciaran Maher will start Jameka in the Moonee Valley Vase (2040m) on Saturday week as a final lead-up into the G1 VRC Oaks (2500m) at Flemington on November 5.
“She pulled up a treat after Saturday,” stable manager Ben Connolly said. “She’s not the sort of filly that appreciates a quick back-up and Moonee Valley will top her off nicely for the Oaks.”
The daughter of Vinery sire Myboycharlie came from second-last at the half-mile to be beaten a length and change by Stay With Me in the Thousand Guineas. “We had to go back from the gate but we wanted her to hit the line,” jockey Mark Zahra explained. “I reckon she will stay the distance in the Oaks.”
The Victorian TAB has firmed Jameka into a $7 equal favourite for the VRC Oaks alongside last-start LR Dulcify Stakes winner Ambience (Street Cry).
Maher bought her for $130,000 from Gilgai Farm at the 2014 Inglis Melbourne Premier yearling sale and she paid that in full with a Group 2 victory in the VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes at Flemington in March.
Apart from Jameka’s Group 1 placing on Saturday, Myboycharlie sired 5 winners over the weekend including David Jolly’s progressive four year-old Impluse Diavolo at Morphettville.
Myboycharlie filly Blueberry Hill was due to resume racing on Saturday but was scratched from her engagement at Doomben. Trainer Liam Birchley has sent the G2 Champagne Classic winner out for an extended spell to recover from an ongoing hamstring injury.
In France, Myboycharlie’s brilliant colt Cheikeljack was placed in the G3 Prix Thomas Bryon (1200m) at Saint-Cloud on Thursday. Trainer Henri Alex-Pantal took the unbeaten youngster to Paris after a couple of six-length victories at Le lion-d’angers.
