Story by Edward Sadler – Racing.com
As VRC Oaks Day approaches, Dan O’Sullivan is hoping that his filly Too Darn Discreet can be the horse who provides him with membership of the exclusive Group 1 club.
“I’m trying not to think about it too much, you do but you’ve been there for a few times and you walk away disappointed,” O’Sullivan said from Ballarat on Monday’s Raceday Live coverage.
“It’s a nice race for her, she’s certainly got a top-three chance for sure.”
Training for G1 races isn’t an easy business, with Australia’s biggest races frequently dominated by the likes of Chris Waller, Ciaron Maher and Gai Waterhouse.
“It’s very hard, they’ve got bigger and bigger, but I’ve been around long enough now to know where my spot is,” O’Sullivan said.
“If one comes along good enough to get to those races, well, I’m sure we’re good enough to take on those big trainers as well.
“We’re working 17 horses down there, we’re going to have four runners over the Carnival, I think that’s a pretty fair effort.”
Too Darn Discreet heads into the Oaks having won her past three starts, a streak that began with her maiden win at Sandown before she graduated to two victories at Group level.
“She’s always shown good ability, but she’s always been a little bit quirky,” her trainer explained.
“The first time I jumped her out at the trials, she didn’t want to go in the barriers and didn’t trial very impressively at all, but she’s a great learner and she’s got a fantastic constitution.
“She had the first-up run at Moonee Valley and she got a bit lost. I took her back and gave her a nice, solid trial here. That seemed to be the catalyst to turn her on because we were nice and firm on her that day and she responded to it and she’s responded to the workload since.”
After taking out the G3 Ethereal Stakes last time out, O’Sullivan elected not to run Too Darn Discreet in the Wakeful Stakes at Flemington on Victoria Derby Day.
“She’d had a run over 2000m, the last thing I wanted to do was go down there and perhaps give her too big a day out and flatten her going into Thursday,” O’Sullivan explained.
“She had a nice gallop out here on the grass on Saturday morning on the course proper and she’s come through that really well.”
Despite not being involved in the Wakeful, O’Sullivan was a keen observer of the race and admits that the result wasn’t what he was hoping for, with Treasure the Moment defeating Powers Of Opal.
“Probably the thing I found a bit interesting with the race was the horses we’d been competing against weren’t the winner or the second placegetter, so the form line has taken a bit of a turn for mine,” he said.
“I would have liked to have seen some of the ones that we’d raced against be a bit more forward at the finish than what they were.
“The two fresh horses on the scene look like the ones to beat.”
The Oaks distance of 2500m doesn’t concern O’Sullivan, particularly after his filly drew barrier three for the classic event.
“I don’t think that will worry her, (but) you don’t know until you get there,” he said.
“Her mother was a winner over 2000m and she’s always shown us great stamina.
“Even when she galloped here the other morning, she worked here over a mile and finished off and still took some pulling up, she was really strong through the line.
“She’ll just be able to get a nice, soft run and we’ll be able to push the button when we need to.”
Too Darn Discreet is at $9 in Sportsbet’s market for the VRC Oaks.
In other stable news, O’Sullivan confirmed that Berkeley Square will contest the G3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes following his runner-up effort in the G3 Bendigo Cup last start.
