Sakura Girl set to pay long-term dividends for owners

By Jordan Gerrans

When Ross Lao purchased an athletic filly at the 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale, he had one simple message for his regular trainer.

“I have got you an Oaks horse”,” Lao recalls telling top Kiwi trainer Ben Foote.

Lao and his Upper Bloodstock team are becoming increasingly prominent in the Australian racing scene and that could rise another level on Saturday afternoon in the Queensland Oaks for 2023.

Lao and Foote have Sakura Girl in the 2200 metre feature for three-year-olds following an encouraging third-place finish in The Roses a fortnight prior.

Lao runs his Upper Bloodstock operation with close mate Andy Lau.

The team also have horses with Peter Robl on the Gold Coast, as well, and acquired boxes on the Glitter Strip of Australia for Robl to move his stable from Sydney to base themselves at.

Lao refers to his business model as “traders more than racing owners” and that suits Foote fine, as he prefers to have a small team in work and be competitive in black-type races often.

“The ones that do make it to the races, they are ones that we have not sold beforehand,” Foote said.

“I always race those two or three good horses – that is what I like doing – but I also like being financial and turn them over.

“Hopefully I can always have two or three good ones every year to bring them over.”

Sakura Girl has obviously passed the Lao and Foote tests as she lines up for her ninth career start on Saturday in the $700,00 feature for fillies.

She put in an eye-catching effort in her first look at Australian racing, leading for much of the straight before Fireburn took over in the concluding stages in The Roses, which was raced at Group 2 level.

The daughter of Iffraaj was beaten just over a length.

The bay filly has won up to 2100 metres and raced at 2400 metres in the NZ Oaks in March, with Foote believing she will appreciate the 2200 metre trip on Saturday.

“It was a good effort, it did not quite go to plan,” Foote said of the run in The Roses.

“We got in a nice spot and then they slowed up in front so Opie Bosson elected to go around them, which could have been the difference in running third or possible winning the race in the end.

“She will definitely improve from the run.

“The more distance will not be a bother at all, as long as she gets out and gets in her rhythm.

“If everything goes to plan, I am sure she will run it out really strong.”

Sakura Girl is rated as a $13 chance in the Oaks with the TAB as Fireburn is the public elect at $3.50.

If Sakura Girl was to upset Fireburn, it would deliver on a long-term plan for Lao.

“The day I bought that filly, one of the first things I told the trainer was “please go and win an Oaks for me”,” Lao remembers.

Upper Bloodstock spent $260,000 Kiwi dollars on her at the 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale.

The Upper Bloodstock and Foote relationship started around five years ago with a few horses and has now expanded to “a stack” of gallopers, the trainer says.

“She is that type of pedigree and on look, she can run that trip,” Lao said.

“For a filly, it is good to win an Oaks, if you could. It would be unbelievable to win this race.”

As Lao has a long-standing relationship with new Gold Coast-based trainer Robl, Foote has stayed at his barn since heading across the ditch.

Foote’s son Ryan has stayed with the filly for the entirety of their stay, with Ben heading back and forth while tending to his gallopers back home, as well.

The Kiwi horseman called on old mate Samantha Collett to gallop the Oaks-bound filly on Tuesday morning around Eagle Farm.

Collett handed Foote his maiden Group 1 victory as a trainer back in 2020 as Travelling Light saluted in the Levin Classic.

Sakura Girl worked with Nonconformist on Tuesday with the now Brisbane-based Collett more than happy with the way she stepped out.

The NZ filly has been handed a horror draw of 21 for Saturday’s contest.

It is a mountain of time and effort for a stable to bring one horse to the Sunshine State for the winter but the trainer says it is all worth it if they can get a result on race day.

“If you think your horse is good enough, then why not?,” Foote said.

The Queensland Oaks is a race that New Zealand-bred fillies have historically dominated.

Half of the last dozen have come from over the ditch, with the David Vandyke-prepared Gypsy Goddess getting the cash last year.

And, Kiwi horses have showed the form lines are strong in 2023, as well.

Prowess – from the Roger James and Robert Wellwood barn – won the Vinery Stud Stakes in late March while Pennyweka claimed the Australian Oaks in early April.

“Our stayers have always been up to the Australian horses,” Foote said.

“If you have got a good horse during the winter time and you need a better track, otherwise they will just need to go to the paddock.”