Rex Lipp won a Queensland Oaks seven years ago and he’s thinking he might have a filly good enough to have another crack at the race after Tycoon Evie took down some talented local three-year-olds at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Lipp’s filly Tinto won the 2014 Oaks for the late Tim Bell, after winning the Gold Coast Bracelet (1800m) on the way through.
That’s the race that will determine Tycoon Evie’s winter path. If she performs well and shows she will cope with a trip, Lipp will press on to the Oaks, otherwise he can pull up and aim at shorter races.
The filly, who is a sister to Winning Rupert, is already a winner at a mile.
“It’s a long road yet. She will go to the Princess in three weeks (1600m), then to the Bracelet,” Lipp said.
“We will make up our mind after the Bracelet whether we go onto the Oaks or what we do with her.”
Tycoon Evie was coming back from a mile and taking on easily her toughest test to date, but she gave Kisukano, Mass Destruction, Apache Chase and Gotta Kiss all a start and rounded them up.
“It was a pretty good field, coming into our carnival … she was just too strong for them on the line,” Lipp said.
“To me, in her work, she was vulnerable today, but they put it on a plate for us.
“She had a fortnight in the paddock and I said to the owner we had to get her back in because she was doing too well.”
It was a sweet success for jockey Mark Du Plessis, who had been dumped from Kisukano for this race, allowing him to ride Tycoon Evie without having to make the choice.
“I wanted to ride Tycoon Evie,” Du Plessis said. “I just had no luck on Kisukano this time in. This was always going to be a race where she would show her old form because a small field and she was drawn well.
“But this filly (Tycoon Evie) is very special.
“I’ve always known she’s a very good filly.
“Distance wise this is below her best, but she was very electric today, she was very strong, she got all favours in the run, coming into the straight she took four or five strides to get going, but I always knew she was going to win the race, no matter she beat.
“I could always see her getting out sprinted early and having the last crack. It all opened up and she’s won well.”
Kisukano battled on strongly under her 60kg to hold second from Mass Destruction.
Apache Chase and Gotta Kiss, who ran 1-2 in the Group 3 Vo Rogue Plate over the summer, dropped out to finish at the tail of the five horse field.
