Photo: supplied
Saturday’s $1m Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Ellerslie crowned Ohope Wins (NZ) (Ocean Park) as a spectacular winner of the 2025-26 NZB Filly of the Year Series.
On December 31, Ohope Wins was a three-start maiden who had played no part in the first six legs of the prestigious series. But stunning come-from-behind victories in three of the last five races propelled her to a title-winning total of 28 points.
Matamata trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott have always thought the world of their Ocean Park (NZ) filly, who recorded two fifths and a second from her first three starts over 1400 and 1600 metres. They knew the step up to 2000 metres and beyond would be the making of her, and they could not have been more right.
Ohope Wins burst on the scene with a flying finish to capture the Group Two Sir Patrick Hogan Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day. She followed that up in breathtaking style when she went from last to first in the Group Two David & Karyn Ellis Fillies’ Classic (2100m) at Te Rapa on February 7.
She earned 16 points from that Group Two double, meaning a top-two finish in the Oaks would be enough to overhaul the joint series leaders Well Written (Written Tycoon) and Lollapalooza (NZ) (El Roca), who earned 20 points each during the spring. That was something Ohope Wins was widely expected to achieve on Saturday, stepping out as the $2.60 favourite in the Oaks.
Those prospects looked decidedly shaky at the home turn, however, when Ohope Wins was languishing fourth-last and a dozen lengths from the lead.
But jockey Joe Doyle was fully aware of the incredible engine he had idling underneath him. He angled Ohope Wins to the outside in the straight and turned her loose.
Ohope Wins came with giant strides down the straight and blazed past her opposition. She didn’t stop there either, drawing away to win by two and a quarter lengths.
“When you get to ride a horse that good, nothing compares to how that feels,” Doyle said.
“She has been trained to the minute. We were a long way back, but when you are riding one as good as she is, they can just overcome all those things. The draw is never an excuse. The ground is never an excuse. She was just too good.
“She always feels like she has so much left. I couldn’t pull her up. She’s exceptional.
“I’ve never ridden a three-year-old like her. She’s really, really special.”
Ohope Wins was bred by Gartshore Bloodstock, who raced her through the first four starts of her career culminating in the Sir Patrick Hogan Stakes on New Year’s Day. In a deal negotiated by NZB's Alex Teng, she was then bought by Yulong Investments, whose green and white colours have also been carried this season by the undefeated Group One New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) and $1.5m Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) winner Well Written.
Out of a half-sister to the five-time Group One winner and 2011-12 New Zealand Horse of the Year Jimmy Choux (NZ) (Thorn Park), Ohope Wins has now had six starts for three wins, a placing and $894,120 in stakes.
“She is proper horse,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s the best way to describe her after watching that performance.
“It was a no-panic ride by Joe. I think I was panicking a bit more watching from the grandstand. When Joe came from the outside, I thought she had a lot of ground to make up, but she did it and did it with some sort of ease.
“She is just going to go from strength to strength. She is certainly going to be winning more big races in the future. She wouldn’t look out of place in Australia. We have always believed in the filly from day dot, and that performance today was pretty special.”
The new February date for the New Zealand Oaks allows the country’s leading staying fillies to back up in the $1.25m Group One New Zealand Derby (2400m) over the same course and distance two weeks later – an assignment O’Sullivan and Scott will strongly consider with Ohope Wins.
“She will decide for us,” O’Sullivan said. “We will sit down with connections during the week and have a chat, but we will be doing what we think is best for her.”
The Oaks produced an Ocean Park quinella, with last-start Group Two Waikato Guineas (2000m) winner Autumn Glory (NZ) – also owned by Yulong – running an outstanding race to finish second.
The final NZB Filly of the Year Series points table sees Ohope Wins with 28 points, Well Written and Lollapalooza with 20 each, Tajana (NZ) (Darci Brahma) with 10, Tellum (NZ) (Ocean Park) and Ultimate Habit (NZ) (Embellish) with 8 each, Single Red (NZ) (Vanbrugh) with 7.5, Autumn Glory with 7, War Princess (NZ) (U S Navy Flag) and Fairy Dream (NZ) (Proisir) with 6 each, Little Black Dress (Snitzel) with 5.5, Ariadne (NZ) (Almanzor) with 4, Belle Cheval (NZ) (Savabeel) with 3.5, Waimea Bay (NZ) (Savabeel) and In Haste (Snitzel) with 3 each, Born To Be Royal (King’s Legacy), Clara Bow (NZ) (Ocean Park) and Fleeting Star (Cool Aza Beel) with 2 each, and Crimson Sky (NZ) (Ocean Park), Capaci (NZ) (Tivaci) and Queen’s Evidence (NZ) (King’s Legacy) with 1.5 each.
