VRC Oaks aim for Autumn Angel

The Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman stable have Oaks ambitions with Autumn Angel after her breakthrough win at Sandown.

Success in the Ladbrokes Communities Plate (1300m) on Wednesday was the commencement of a campaign that the trainers hope will lead to the Group 1 Victorian Oaks (2500m) at Flemington in November.

Ridden by Billy Egan, Autumn Angel ($6.50) sat midfield before unleashing a powerful finish to score a 1-¾ length win from Delivering ($4.60) with Zondee ($7.50) a nose away third.

Autumn Angel made a late autumn start to her career finishing second to stablemate Legacies over 1200m at Cranbourne in April.

“She’s come on well,” Moody said.

“I was a little concerned she might have found it a little bit short, but she is the type of filly that we have pigeon-holed as our Oaks type filly this preparation.

“She went into the race with by far and away with the best form, the Legacies form that she carried into the race, but the distance was a concern.

“Bill rode her to travel strong, she found the right run in the race and was strong through the line.

“It augurs well for her when she steps up in trip.”

How the stable gets Autumn Angel to the Oaks is yet to be worked out.

Moody said he could go down the path of trying to find a suitable Stakes race for her next start, or just look for another contest in restricted grade.

“We’ll go home and plot a course,” Moody said.

“I would think her next run would be around that 1400 to 1500-metre mark.

“Does that involve ‘Black Type’ straight away or do we try and put another one on her CV, we’ll let the program dictate to us a little bit in the next fortnight.”