Sydney filly Proxima Dea demonstrated her class on Thursday, remaining undefeated with a dominant victory in the $1 million Group 1 VRC Oaks at Flemington.
The David Payne-trained filly secured her sixth career win, carrying rising star jockey Zac Lloyd to his inaugural Group 1 success in Melbourne over the 2500-metre distance.
This Oaks triumph arrived just 12 days after Proxima Dea bested the colts in the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m). Her experienced trainer suggested she might be the horse he has anticipated throughout his 54-year training career.
“I want to win the Melbourne Cup, so maybe I’ll have to hang in there,” Payne remarked. “She’s such a good mover and she doesn’t spend an ounce of energy. She’d bred to stay and from day one I said the Oaks and I stuck to it. Maybe I should have gone for the Derby, I don’t know, but she’ll go for a holiday now and she deserves it. This is her first prep and she’s won six in a row and two Group Ones.”
Proxima Dea, a Tarzino progeny out of Invisible Coin and thus a sibling to Queensland Oaks victor Gypsy Goddess, achieved her Oaks win 117 days after her debut victory in a 1400-metre 2YO Handicap at Randwick on July 11. This was followed by a Class 1 win over 1600m at Gosford, then an 1800m Midway success at Rosehill, preceding her initial Stakes level challenge where she secured victory in the Group 3 Gloaming Stakes (1800m) on October 10.
In none of those previous races did she encounter as challenging a run as her Victorian debut.
Lloyd skillfully guided her from the second-widest starting gate in the 16-horse field, but they were forced to race three-wide for a significant portion of the race due to rivals keenly aware of the $2.10 favourite’s presence.
Notwithstanding the challenging run, Proxima Dea assumed the lead early in the expansive Flemington straight, establishing a margin of over a length that she successfully extended in the final furlong.
Crossing the finish line, she held a 1-3/4 length advantage over the rapidly closing Shameful Impulse ($41), who managed to snatch second place from Saturday’s Wakeful Stakes winner and $3.50 second favourite, De Armas, right at the post.
Lloyd, who partnered with Victorian trainers Mick Pride and Michael Kent Jr for this year’s Golden Slipper victory with Guest House, expressed his delight in teaming up with fellow South African Payne for his significant Melbourne breakthrough win.
“To get a Group 1 in Melbourne (is great), hopefully I can keep on coming back for these carnivals and take a bit of money,” the 23-year-old, now an eight-time Group 1 winner, stated. “We said all along, as long as David was confident, I had nothing to worry about it. She’s bred to do it but she might be the best one on the page. That was some performance.”
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