The 2016-17 New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series is going right down to the wire in Saturday's 10th and final leg, the $300,000 Group 1 Wellfield New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham.
With 12 points awarded to the Oaks winner, there are three possible Filly of the Year Series champions in Saturday's field – Bonneval (NZ) (Makfi) currently tops the table with 15.5 points, while Nicoletta (NZ) (Savabeel) and Devise (NZ) (Darci Brahma) are both within striking distance with 10 and 6.5 points respectively.
Those three fillies have fought a fierce rivalry through the second half of the Series. In the Group 3 Wellfield Desert Gold Stakes (1600m), Nicoletta was first with Devise second and Bonneval third. Then Bonneval took out the Group 2 Cambridge Stud Sir Tristram Fillies' Classic (2000m), beating Nicoletta and Devise. In the Group 3 Little Avondale Lowland Stakes (2100m), Bonneval again came out on top with Devise third and Nicoletta fourth.
Second in the lowland was the Series newcomer Savvy Dreams (NZ) (Savabeel), who is again among the opposition in Saturday's classic. She has 3 Filly of the Year Series points to her name.
Other runners in Saturday's field who appear on the points table are Dreamcrafter (NZ) (Mastercraftsman) with 3, Date Night (NZ) (Savabeel) with 2 and Dame Margo Fonteyn (NZ) (High Chaparral) with 1.5.
In addition to the 12 points available for the winner, the second placegetter in the Oaks will pick up 7 points and the third-placed filly will earn 3.5.
The country's best staying fillies are converging on Trentham from Waikato, Canterbury, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu, Taranaki, Wanganui and Auckland, making the time-honoured New Zealand Oaks a true battle for national supremacy.
The Oaks will be run as race 8 on Saturday with a start time of 4.36pm.
NZB Release
