The second Classic for the week, this time for the girls, the VRC Oaks was born the same year – 1861 – as the Melbourne Cup. We take an in-depth look into the pedigree backgrounds of this year’s runners…
Oaks Odds 💰: View the Odds for the VRC Oaks
1. Getta Good Feeling
So You Think – Marquise da Rossa (Testa Rossa)
Attempting to become the first So You Think Gr.1 winner since his death, she could provide that great horse with his second Oaks winner for the year with You Wahng successful in the Queensland version in June.
So You Think was at his best around the 2000m distance range but did run a brave third in the Melbourne Cup. Sixteen of his 65 stakes winners have won over 2200m and beyond.
Getta Good Feeling is a half-sister to the 1600m Gr.3 winner Elliptical out of a daughter of the high class sprinter/miler Testa Rossa who sired the South Australian Derby winner Testafiable.
And Testa Rossa is dam sire of Vow And Declare, whose half-sister Litzdeel won over 2800m at Flemington on Tuesday.
A Golden Slipper winner – Marauding – emerged from this family as did the dual Gr.1 winning miler Sacred Choice. Further back there is form over more ground with this family’s ancestress Our Liz also having amongst her descendants the VRC & WA Derby winner Bounty Hawk and the Epsom Derby winner Quest For Fame.
A duplication of the mare Fairy Bridge via Sadler’s Wells and Perugino gives this filly some pedigree punch.
2. The Pearls
Proisir – The Pearler (Volksraad)
Attempting to become the first New Zealand bred Oaks winner since Miami Bound in 2019, she is by Choisir’s Gr.3 miler son, a horse who ran second to Dundeel as an odds-on favourite in the longer Gr.1 Spring Champion Stakes.
A great success at stud, Proisir has been able to sire a variety of classy runners with ten of his 52 stakes winners successful at 2200m and beyond.
The Pearls’ sprinting dam sire Volksraad sired the New Zealand Derby winner Military Move and can pass on stamina as a broodmare sire.
The Pearler won nine races up to 2000m while her triple stakes winning grandam The Wink won up to 2200m.
This is the prolific “The” family, best known for deeds around 2000m – including The Phantom and The Phantom Chance, the Cox Plate winner who also took out the New Zealand Derby.
Relations also include Auckland Cup (3200m) winner Irish Chance and Herbert Power (2400m) winner The Chosen One.
Tracing back to 1805-born ancestress Isis, this family has produced VRC Oaks winners Aristia (2018), Scarlet (1922), Litigant (1890) and Florence (1870).
Line-bred to the Kentucky Oaks winner Lalun, The Pearls has Grosvenor, Noble Bijou and Kurdistan as her second, third and fourth dam sires — plenty of stamina.
3. Spicy Lu
Tagaloa – All Salsa (Charge Forward)
Spicy Lu is by the Blue Diamond Stakes winning early maturer whose other debut crop stakes winner is the 1600m Gr.2 winner Salty Pearl. His sire Lord Kanaloa was a dashing sprinter/miler who could sire any type, with Almond Eye and Saturnalia winning at 2400m.
She is out of a city-winning sprinter whose grandam Alabaq won a Gr.3 over 2000m, while her dam Salsabil won the Irish Derby and the Epsom Oaks.
This is the historic Aloe family which has produced high class performers including Epsom Derby winners Nashwan and Parthia, Epsom Oaks winner Jet Ski Lady and NZ Oaks winner More Than Sacred.
Spicy Lu is the first of two 2025 Oaks runners out of mares by Gr.1 sprinter Charge Forward – a sire and broodmare sire best known for speed.
Her sire is line-bred to Nureyev while her dam is line-bred to his 3/4 brother Sadler’s Wells.
4. Just A Journey
Justify – Caravan (Snitzel)
The US Triple Crown hero Justify sired last year’s Epsom Derby winner City Of Troy while his son Scandinavia has won Gr.1 staying events in the UK. His son Arcora ran second in last Saturday’s VRC Derby.
Just A Journey is out of a placed daughter of dual Gr.2 winning sprinter Gypsy Robin, dam of Gr.1 sprinter Wild Ruler and Pavitra, who ran second in this race three years ago.
She is bred 4×4 to Gr.1 middle-distance galloper Awesome Again and also carries crosses of Storm Bird, Nijinsky, Northern Dancer, In Reality and Seattle Slew.
5. Ethereum Girl
Maurice – Moon Child (Charge Forward)
The first of three runners this year for Maurice, a horse who was at his brilliant best from a mile to 2000m but who has already sired a Flemington Classic winner with Hitotsu successful in the 2021 Derby.
Also the second for Charge Forward as broodmare sire, she has as her closest cross 5×4 Roberto, winner of the Epsom Derby.
Ethereum Girl’s Listed winning half-sister Dream Of The Moon has won from 1000m to 1600m whilst her stakes placed grandam won three races over sprinting trips.
Fellow sprinters Wild Rain, Canon Song, Duchess Katrin, North Boy, Northern Song and Overpass are all stakes winning members of this family but Ethereum Girl’s best relation is the champion Northerly who stretched out his brilliance to the 2400m of the Caulfield Cup.
6. Sheeza Diva
Pierro – Dizzy Diva (Starspangledbanner)
Her five-time Gr.1 winning sprinter/miler sire Pierro provided the 2017 winner of this race – Pinot; also represented by an ATC Derby winner (Levendi) and two winners of the Western Australian Derby (Regal Power and Action).
Sheeza Diva’s dam is by the globe-trotting sprinter/miler Starspangledbanner who, as a sire and dam sire, has been represented mainly by sprinter/milers.
However her grandam Dizlago easily won a Listed 2000m race before contesting this race whilst her dam Dizelle won the AJC Oaks – and she is the dam of Pinot.
Dizelle’s dam Danelagh was also high class – though over shorter, taking out the Blue Diamond Stakes. Aside from Dizelle she had another two stakes winners; the star Hong Kong galloper Vengeance Of Rain, twice a Gr.1 winner at 2400m – and the sprinter/miler Bernicia, in turn dam of the Tulloch Stakes (2000m) winner Old North.
Danelagh’s dam Palatious won the Perth Cup over 3200m and the C.B. Cox Stakes over 2400m.
Further back this family has had notable VRC Oaks influence – Sheeza Diva’s 1858-born ancestress Bas Bleu (dam of the Epsom Derby winner Blue Gown) also has amongst her descendants the 1990 winner Weekend Delight, the 1923 winner Frances Tressady (also winner of the VRC Derby), the 1914 winner Carlita (another to successfully take on the boys in the Derby) and the 1910 winner Styria.
Sheeza Diva’s pedigree brings together the relations Sadler’s Wells, Fairy King, Val De Loir and Nureyev.
7. Strictly Business
Grunt – Tivoli Lass (Uncle Mo)
Bred on a 4×4 Zabeel (to whom the VRC Oaks winner Pinot is line-bred), Strictly Business is by the two-time Gr.1 winning miler Grunt who is yet to have a stakes-performed horse win beyond 2000m… though his winner over that trip, the Tulloch Stakes victor Pocketing, also boasts a Zabeel cross.
A half-sister to the Tasmania Derby runner-up Kicking King, Strictly Business is out of a 1400m winner whose dam won up to 2000m. And that mare’s dam is a half-sister to the Caulfield Cup winner Affinity from a family that has had two horses in the limelight of late – the Caulfield Guineas winner Autumn Boy and the Newmarket Handicap winner Shamexpress, sire of Ka Ying Rising.
Ancestress of this family is the famed matriarch Lady Josephine who has many Classic winners amongst her descendants – winners of the Epsom Oaks, the Irish Oaks, the Australasian Oaks, the Epsom Derby (including the famously ill-fated Shergar and the record-breaking Mahmoud), the ATC Derby (Octagonal and Don Eduardo), the Italian Derby and the Irish Derby.
And a winner of this race – Brazilian Pulse, successful in 2010.
Strictly Business also has nice female line-breeding with a cross of the famed matriarch Best In Show via her descendants Try My Best and Al Maher.
Her dam sire Uncle Mo, at his best over a mile, has sired a variety of horses whilst as a broodmare sire his best have raced between 1600m and 1800m.
8. After Summer
The Autumn Sun – Al Jasrah (Shirocco)
The Autumn Sun was retired before being tried over a Classic trip but his finale, taking out the Gr.1 Rosehill Guineas over 2000m on heavy going, was a gritty effort and at stud he has been throwing to the stamina in his pedigree, his dam sire being the great Galileo.
Amongst his first 11 stakes winners are the Classic winners Autumn Angel (ATC Oaks) and Coco Sun (South Australian Derby) and this is the same Redoute’s Choice sire line that produced last year’s winner Treasurethe Moment.
After Summer is a half-sister to the UK galloper Calling The Wind, a stakes-placed six-time winner who is an out-and-out stayer winning up to 4100m. She also has a half-brother who has won over 2700m.
Her dam is out of the Gr.2 2400m placegetter Ultra Finesse whose grandson is well known to Australian racegoers – the popular four-time Gr.1 winner (including the Tancred over 2400m) Hartnell.
Ultra Finesse is a half-sister to the French Derby and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Suave Dancer.
After Summer’s well-travelled multiple Gr.1 winning dam sire Shirocco, who loved the 2400m, is by the stamina influence Monsun. Sire of the German Derby winner Windstoss and the three-time Melbourne Cup placegetter Prince Of Arran, Shirocco is dam sire of a number of high class stayers including Montefilia who ran third in this race five years ago.
The 3/4 brothers Nijinsky and The Minstrel come together in her pedigree, providing for a cross of the Canadian Oaks heroine Flaming Page to whom the ATC Oaks winners El Patroness and Royal Descent are line-bred.
9. Zouclaire
Zousain – Dame Claire (Danehill Dancer)
By a Gr.2 sprinting Zoustar stallion whose first three stakes winners are sprinters, Zouclaire is out of the tough staying mare Dame Claire – a two-mile winner of the Andrew Ramsden Stakes at Flemington and third in the Adelaide Cup.
Her Listed-winning daughter Zou Sensation – a 3/4 sister to Zouclaire – is a sprinter who ran second to Warnie at Flemington last Saturday.
Dame Claire’s dam is a half-sister to the Gr.1 miler Cape Verdi from a family of high class 1600m–2400m (and beyond) horses including the French Oaks winner Aquarelliste and the multiple Gr.1 winner Luxembourg.
The latter, like Zouclaire, is out of a Danehill Dancer mare – and he sired Arapaho Miss, the 2007 winner of this race (which her daughter Miami Bound won in 2019) – as well as the Epsom Oaks winner Dancing Rain and the Italian Oaks winner Contredanse.
He also has a number of high class staying types including Minding, Subjectivist, Jan Brueghel, Loving Dream, Serpentine, Helvic Dream and Sovereign; all Gr.1 winners.
10. Voting Rights
Snitzel – Susan B Anthony (Galileo)
This well-named filly is by an Oakleigh Plate-winning Champion Sire whose 25 Gr.1 winners include only one to win around 2000m (and none beyond that) – his Cox Plate-winning son Shamus Award.
She is out of a placed full sister to the Gr.1 1600m/2000m horse Rip Van Winkle whose progeny can run a trip.
There are mainly sprinter/miler types close up in Voting Right’s pedigree but her dam sire Galileo is of course a renowned sire of Classic horses with multiple winners of the Epsom, Irish and Yorkshire Oaks – and he has an outstanding record with Derby winners as well.
Voting Rights’ second dam sire Stravinsky sired the 2005 VRC Oaks/2006 AJC Oaks winner Serenade Rose.
11. Morisu Ojo
Maurice – Fill The Page (Dane Shadow)
The second of the three Maurice runners, she is out of the 2000m Canberra Cup winner Fill The Page who has also produced the ATC St Leger (2600m) and Queensland Cup (2400m) winner Fun Fact.
Fill The Page’s stakes-placed full brother Patch Adams won eight races up to 2400m.
Morisu Ojo’s dam sire Dane Shadow was a sprinter but the sire of the South Australian Derby winner Shadows In The Sun has Classic genes with his dam Slight Chance being a runaway winner of the 1992 VRC Oaks, also winning the Queensland version.
Her second dam sire Canny Lad sired the AJC Oaks winner Republic Lass whilst her third dam sire Dr Grace won two Gr.1 races over 2400m.
Morisu Ojo’s 1830-born ancestress Stella also has amongst her descendants the 1902 VRC Oaks winner Fishery.
12. Classic Gem
Maurice – Lankan Gold (Dundeel)
The third 2025 Oaks runner for her sire, she is out of a mare by the ATC Derby winner Dundeel – in turn son of High Chaparral who sired a host of Classic winners including the Queensland Oaks winner Youngstar.
Dundeel meanwhile has sired two South Australian Derby winners and is the grandsire of Classic winners Aeliana and Maison Louis.
Classic Gem’s unraced dam is a half-sister to the Listed-winning sprinter Manhattan Street and her grandam is a full sister to the five-time Gr.1 winning speedster and Horse Of The Year Lankan Rupee.
Whilst there is plenty of speed close up in Classic Gem’s pedigree, there is Classic “blood” further back with Derby winners Grosvenor, National Gallery and Tavago as well as the ATC Oaks winners Gay Poss (Classic Gem’s sixth dam) and Mahaya and the Queensland Oaks winner Miss Keepsake.
Another rather handy horse from this family is Lonhro whose daughter Aristia won this race in 2018.
Classic Gem’s closest duplication is 4×4 the stamina influence Sadler’s Wells and her dam is line-bred to Nureyev; Sadler’s Wells’ 3/4 brother. Also of interest is her dam’s cross of Zabeel whilst her sire has that stallion’s close relation Carnegie… the terrific mare Derna duplicated, with the Queensland Oaks winner Gondokoro and her South Australian Derby winning brother Zabeelionaire bred that way.
13. Janey Bopper
Finn McCool – Jane’s Angel (Smart Missile)
Like Half Yours, Janey Bopper is by a not-so-famous stallion with Finn McCool serving only small books of mares since his retirement to stud in 2020.
Imported to Australia on the back of a couple of stakes placings in Ireland, he won two local races – the Avoca and Penshurst Cups – but failed to measure up in metropolitan company.
The sire of only 33 foals (four runners without a winner so far), Finn McCool is a son of the mighty Galileo and he is line-bred to the great mare Special via Sadler’s Wells and Nureyev; and this is the same prolific Rough Shod family as Janey Bopper’s dam sire Smart Missile.
And that horse is by Fastnet Rock – that potent Galileo/Fastnet Rock combo at play.
Janey Bopper’s dam Jane’s Angel won four races from 1400m to 2100m and her dam is a half-sister to the dual Group-winning sprinter/miler Pulcinella.
