THE KENNEDY OAKS
* $1 million Group One, 2500m race for three-year-old fillies at set weights
* It will run as race eight at Flemington on Thursday, November 7, at 5.50pm AEDT
HISTORY
* First run in 1861, the same year as the inaugural Melbourne Cup, and won by Palestine
* Lengthened from 12 furlongs (2400m) to 2500m in 1973
* In the past 32 years, 18 winners have also run in the Group Two Wakeful Stakes on Derby Day
* Four favourites have won in the past decade: Samantha Miss (2008), Faint Perfume (2009), Brazilian Pulse (2010) and Kirramosa (2013)
* Bart Cummings holds the training record with nine winners and Bobby Lewis has the jockey record of seven
* Gai Waterhouse became the first woman to train an Oaks winner with Pinot in 2017
* Also known as Ladies Day, Oaks Day is the most fashion-forward event of the Melbourne Cup carnival
NOTABLE WINNERS
* Briseis (1876), Furious (1921), Chicquita (1949), Evening Peal (1955), Light Fingers (1964), Toltrice (1972), Denise’s Joy (1975), Surround (1976), Scomeld (1978), Rose Of Kingston (1981), Research (1988), Slight Chance (1992), Grand Archway (1998), Serenade Rose (2005), Miss Finland (2006), Samantha Miss (2008), Mosheen (2011) and Jameka (2015)
TALKING POINTS
* Aristia won last year to claim her first Group One victory and complete the Wakeful Stakes-Oaks double
* Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra have no runner in Thursday’s race after winning last year’s race with Aristia
* Favourite Miami Bound ($3.60) edged out Vegas Jewel ($4) in the Wakeful Stakes, with the pair to fight it out again five days later
* Danny O’Brien trains Miami Bound, putting him contention for a Melbourne Cup-Oaks double
* Damien Oliver will ride Miami Bound and is chasing his fifth Oaks win
* Miami Bound can emulate her dam Arapaho Miss who won the Oaks 12 years ago
* John Sargent, who trained Kirramosa to victory in 2013, will saddle up Stick ‘Em Up and Foxborough, who finished fifth in the Wakeful Stakes
* Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne will ride Victory Approach, who she also trains
WHAT SOME OF THE KEY PLAYERS ARE SAYING
“I thought her run in the Wakeful was a pass mark. She pulled up well enough to go on to the Oaks and she has got a pedigree to run the trip” – Silent Sovereign’s trainer Tony McEvoy
“She’s been preparing for this all spring. Her run on Saturday was terrific in the Wakeful and it’s usually a good guide for the Thursday. So fingers crossed” – Danny O’Brien on Miami Bound
“I feel a bit greedy even hoping for it” Danny O’Brien who also trained Melbourne Cup winner Vow And Declare
