Proxima Dea remains unbeaten with Oaks triumph

Following in the Flemington classic-winning footsteps of her sire Tarzino, rising star Proxima Dea (Tarzino) added a sixth win to her unbeaten record with a supreme performance in Thursday’s A$1 million Gr.1 Crown Oaks (2500m).

Proxima Dea’s Oaks heroics came 11 years after the Gr.1 Victoria Derby (2500m) triumph by Tarzino, who now stands for a $15,000 service fee at Westbury Stud.

Thursday’s victory also earned Proxima Dea a piece of history as the first horse to complete the Group One double of the Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) and the Oaks.

A full-sister to Gr.1 Queensland Oaks (2200m) winner Gypsy Goddess, Proxima Dea always had the bloodlines for age-group excellence over classic distances. Trainer David Payne quickly noticed that she had talent to match, declaring her an Oaks contender after she scored a $51 upset victory on debut at Randwick in July.

Following wins in her next three starts including the Gr.3 Gloaming Stakes (1800m), Payne raised the bar to Group One level for last month’s Spring Champion Stakes and the filly rose to the occasion with a commanding victory by a length and a half. Among the beaten runners that day was the fourth-placed Stormy Marco (Wootton Bassett), who finished almost three lengths behind her. He went on to a two-length triumph in last Saturday’s Victoria Derby.

All of that pointed to Proxima Dea being the one they all had to beat at Flemington on Thursday, with the only possible spanner in the works being a horror draw of 19.

That wide gate had the potential to subject Proxima Dea to an energy-sapping wide run, and that was exactly what it did. She was caught very wide around the first turn, leaving jockey Zac Lloyd with no choice but to push forward with a sustained, searching run as the field made its way along the back straight.

Proxima Dea was finally able to slot in and get some cover by the end of the back straight, but she had to do plenty of work to get there and would be expected to have used up a huge amount of petrol in the process. However, she then showed that she still had plenty left.

Lloyd drove the $2.10 favourite to the front at the top of the straight, and she surged clear, going on to win by a length and three-quarters from Shameful Impulse (Shamus Award).

The New Zealand-bred Gr.2 Wakeful Stakes (2000m) winner De Armas (NZ) (Ardrossan), who loomed as a threat on Proxima Dea’s outside early on the run home, just peaked on her run in the last 100m and crossed the line in third place.

“She’s unbelievable,” Lloyd said. “That was spine-tingling.

“She jumped really well, and there was a bit of jostling for a spot early, and I didn’t want to be the one working into that bend.

“I came out of the speed, knowing that I might get caught wide, but I was hoping the speed would increase down the side and I’d have my chance to get in. I had to take what I was given and trust I was on the best stayer on the day, and that she was.

“Although I was wide, we weren’t going quick and I was in a straight line, so I just focused on her. She was in a lovely rhythm. She was very ready for me today, and David’s training was fantastic. She was fresh enough, but she was still able to stay as she did.

“I don’t know how far we ended up winning by, but she covered a lot more ground than the rest of them. I felt one challenge at about the 300m or 200m mark, but she just keeps getting stronger and stronger and 50m later that horse was gone, so she’s a proper star.

“I rode against her and she beat me at her first start over 1400m. I went and looked at her trials and thought, ‘How the hell did this beat me?’ I can see why now. She’s a special girl and that was some performance today.

“You can see her in record, she won by little margins over 1400m, a mile and 1800m. Once she stepped up to 2000m against the boys in the Spring Champion, she won comfortably. And then today she won even more dominantly, so she’s obviously a very good stayer.”

Payne would love nothing more than to bring her back for another staying showpiece at Flemington in 12 months’ time.

“Maybe we’ll go for the Melbourne Cup (Gr.1, 3200m) next year,” he said. “It’s a race I’ve always wanted to win. Who knows? We’ll look at it and see. Why not, if she matures? We know she’ll get the trip anyway.

“She’ll have a good spell now and we’ll let her mature. She’s got to mature, she’s still a baby, but she has the heart. I’m very fortunate the owners gave her to me. We have a good team behind us.

“She’s such a good mover, and I think she doesn’t spend an ounce of energy. She’d bred to stay, and from day one I said the Oaks and I stuck to it. Maybe I should have gone for the Derby. I don’t know. But now she’ll go for a holiday now, she deserves it. This is her first prep, she’s won six in a row and two Group Ones.”

Proxima Dea is one of four Group One winners for Tarzino, all of them in three-year-old races over 2000m and further. Gypsy Goddess won the Queensland Oaks and placed in the Australian Oaks (2400m) and Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m), Jungle Magnate took out the South Australian Derby (2500m), and Willydoit (NZ) (Tarzino) claimed the New Zealand Derby (2400m).

The dam of Proxima Dea is the Redoute’s Choice mare Invisible Coin. Her name means “Another Goddess” in Latin, a nod to her celebrated older sister Gypsy Goddess, and she is providing another chapter in the breeding success of Transtasman Breeders Pty Ltd.

The filly was bred and is raced by Andy Giles, Hugh Docherty and Caroline Vincent, with Vincent’s partner Richard Kurland a driving force behind the operation.

The group purchased Invisible Coin before Gypsy Goddess emerged as a Group One star and subsequently returned the mare to Tarzino in the hope of producing another quality stayer.

“We purchased Invisible Coin before Gypsy Goddess started winning,” Giles said.

“All of a sudden she was an early favourite for the Australian Oaks, in which she went on to finish runner-up, and then she won the Queensland Oaks.

“On the back of her success, it was a pretty quick decision that Tarzino was a good option.”

Proxima Dea was offered at the Sydney Easter Yearling Sale but failed to find a buyer, a decision that is now proving fortunate for her owner-breeders.

Tarzino is well represented in the upcoming NZB Ready to Run Sale at Karaka on November 18 and 19, where he has 12 two-year-olds in the catalogue.