Kim Prentice getting his 1000th driving win on board Sweet Vivienne Photo by Photography by Jodie Hallows
No stranger to group 1 success, Kim Prentice will be hoping to claim his second WA Oaks as a trainer tonight at Gloucester Park as he prepares three fillies for the feature.
With Soho Honey Rider drawn in barrier 4, Lenora Jane in six and Soho Vesper Lind in the dreaded barrier nine, its Soho Honey Rider that Prentice believes is his best hope in tonight’s Group 1 WA Oaks.
“The barrier draws make it very hard, but Soho Honey Rider is my best chance.”
Soho Honey Rider finished in second placing just 2.7m behind the winner Atlantic Gem in the Group 3 Daintys Daughter on September 20, and Prentice has mentioned she has trained on well since the race.
“She tracked super on Saturday,
“She had a hard hit out Saturday and she went really nice on Tuesday. They don’t go hard on Tuesday.”
Soho Vesper Lind finished in fourth on September 20 in the Daintys Daughter, and Lenora Jane who has had just the two starts back this preparation finished in second placing on Monday at Pinjarra behind Rox The World.
Soho Honey Rider opened up at $17 on TABtouch and has since drifted to $23, with stablemate Lenora Jane opening up at $151 odds and Soho Vesper Lind opening at $101 and now drifting to $151 on the TABtouch market.
Prentice, who claimed his first WA Oaks 21 years ago with Onassis Legacy in 2003 wasn’t on board himself that year, with Craig Goldfinch getting the steer, but Prentice himself has driven two WA Oaks winners, with Dilingers Reign in 2006 for Noel Keiley and just three years ago in 2021 with Benesari Lane for Ron Houston, with Prentice joking that it was a 14 out of 10 drive that night.
Prentice heads to Gloucester Park with a big team, with eight horses spread over the night for the well performed stable.
Soho Down Jones will start the favourite in race four tonight, the FFA, when he starts from barrier one in the nine-horse field.
The five-year-old won the $50,000 Binshaw just four starts back.
Tantabiddi and Soho Firestone line up in race six, with Tantabiddi in barrier three and Soho Firestone in Barrier 12.
Newcomer Soho Moonraker backs up after running sixth on Monday at Pinjarra and will likely start as the favourite in race eight when he starts from barrier 10.
Prentice rounds out his night with Soho Santorini in race nine, starting from barrier three.
Ashleigh Paikos
