The racing landscape has quickly changed for Ohope Wins, the emphatic winner of last Saturday’s New Zealand Oaks at Ellerslie.
The daughter of Ocean Park was seemingly well on track to make it a NZ Oaks / NZ Derby double on March 7 … she was the clearcut favourite for the NZ Derby … but her owners, Yulong Investments, have changed course and Ohope Wins will now leave New Zealand and the training partnership of Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott behind to take on feature race assignments in Australia, with Chris Waller being the big beneficiary in Yulong’s decision to switch their strategy for Ohope Wins.
Yulong only purchased Ohope Wins in January, not long after the filly’s win in the Group 2 Sir Patrick Hogan Stakes. Since that purchase was finalised, Ohope Wins has gone on to complete a hat trick of Group race wins, taking out the Group 2 David and Karyn Ellis Fillies Classic and then the NZ Oaks.
“The reality is her next big target has to be an Australian Group 1 and we have decided to get her into Chris Waller’s care as early as we can to let her settle into his stable,” Sam Fairgray, Yulong’s chief operating officer told the NZ Herald.
“Then, all going well, she will be aimed at the Vinery and the Australian Oaks to give her two shots a Group 1 this autumn.”
While Ohope Wins will now not line up for the NZ Derby, Yulong still appears to hold the trump card in the big New Zealand feature in the form of the NZ Oaks runner-up Autumn Glory, who they also own.
Autumn Glory has now replaced Ohope Wins at the top of the betting boards for the NZ Derby.
