Egg Tart won big races in other states. Who takes the 2024 Australasian Oaks (2000m) at Morphettville on Saturday?

2024 AUSTRALASIAN OAKS - RACE HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

The Australasian Oaks is a Group 1 race for three year old fillies conducted by the South Australian Jockey Club at Morphettville.

The Australasian Oaks was first run in 1982 and was won by Rose Of Kingston.

The Australasian Oaks is run over 2000m under Set Weight conditions. It has always been around the mile and a quarter distance with minor variations.

Bart Cummings had four winners of the race and so has Lee Freedman. Damien Oliver has won the race four times from as far back as Mannerism in 1991 to Princess Jenni in 2019.

A couple of famous notes here. The great Lester Piggott won on Centaurea in 1985 and Colin, Peter and David Hayes have all won this race at the head of Lindsay Park.

Imposera and Mannerism went on to win a Caulfield Cup later in their careers. The 2011 edition saw Lights Of Heaven beat Absolutely and Southern Speed - all of whom won big races after that.

Harry Coffey won his first Group 1 courtesy of a lovely ride on Sopressa in 2018. For a jockey who had overcome many health issues, he was rewarded with a ride in a major race for Darren Weir and delivered in spades.

Damien Thornton did the same tasting success for the first time in 2020. It was for Chris Waller on a filly Toffee Tongue who broke her maiden in scoring in a G1. Then Chris Calthorpe trained his first winner a year later with Media Award.

The Australasian Oaks in 2024 was worth $1,000,000.

Notable winners of the Australasian Oaks include Rose Of Kingston (1982), Centaurea (1985), Imposera (1988), Mannerism (1991), Tristalove (1994), Zarita (2008), Lights Of Heaven (2011), Delicacy (2015) and Egg Tart (2017).

The 2023 Australasian Oaks was won by Affaire A Suivre from She's Fit and Jennilala.