A filly bred to be an Oaks winner can brighten her owner John Singleton’s week if she can cement her Classic credentials at Geelong.
The forced withdrawal of Dear Demi from the Caulfield Cup with a minor throat infection and a poor performance from This Is Australia at Randwick on Saturday put a dampener on Singleton’s race day.
Yesterjoy earned a berth in Wednesday’s Geelong Classic (2200m) when she broke her maiden at her third start and if she performs well, she will go on to the VRC Oaks.
The filly’s mother Tuesday Joy ran second to Miss Finland in the 2006 VRC Oaks before winning the AJC Oaks the following autumn while Dear Demi won the Flemington feature two years ago.
“Dear Demi had the throat infection on Friday but was fine after she was treated,” Singleton said.
“She will probably go to the Mackinnon Stakes now.
“This Is Australia will go to the paddock. He was disappointing in the Brian Crowley.
“But I’m looking forward to seeing what Yesterjoy can do.
“She is like her mother to look at and is a real stayer.
“She runs like she needs two miles (3200m).”
Like Dear Demi, Yesterjoy is trained by Clarry Conners and is one of 28 entries for the Geelong Classic (2200m) on the Geelong Cup program.
Local hero Sertorius, Geelong’s Horse of the Year for the past two seasons, is the 58kg topweight for the Geelong Cup (2400m) following the withdrawals of horses who ran in Saturday’s Caulfield Cup.
Last year’s VRC Oaks runner-up Zanbagh will put her Melbourne Cup hopes on the line in the Geelong Cup.
Formerly trained by Guy Walter for the Tait family, Zanbagh was transferred to Patrick Payne following Walter’s sudden death in May.
She has had three starts for Payne, finishing unplaced in twice over 1600m but showing improvement when third in the Benalla Cup (2046m) earlier this month.
