O’Brien getting a Good Feeling ahead of So You Think filly’s bid for Oaks glory
Danny O’Brien’s will be hoping his proven golden touch with staying fillies will come to the fore again at Flemington on Thursday when rising star Getta Good Feeling (So You Think) aims to hand the trainer another victory in the Victoria Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m).
The daughter of Coolmore’s late stallion So You Think (High Chaparral) has been targeted towards Cup week since making her debut as a juvenile at Geelong in the winter, and her spring campaign has unfolded exactly to plan.
After a string of solid podium finishes, the filly broke her maiden in the Edward Manifold Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m). She then followed up that victory with a close third in the Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m), before entering the reckoning for the Oaks when she delivered a commanding performance to win the Wakeful Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m) on Derby Day.
“She is a filly that we’ve aimed at Cup week from basically after she had her first start in a maiden at Geelong back in the winter,” O’Brien told ANZ News. “She’s turning up in great shape. She put the writing on the wall there on Saturday and she’s pulled up well from the race, so we’re cautiously optimistic about tomorrow.”
O’Brien knows exactly what it takes to complete the Wakeful-Oaks double, having done so with Miami Bound (Reliable Man) in 2019. It’s a path that has served many trainers well, with 39 fillies in history completing the feat, including last year’s winner TreasuretheMoment (Alabama Express). Getta Good Feeling will aim to become the 40th.
Bred to see out the trip, the filly is the second stakes winner out of Marquise Da Rossa (Testa Rossa) and a half-sister to Elliptical (Dundeel), winner of the CS Hayes Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m), who also posted a runner-up finish in the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m).
“All the signs out of Saturday are good,” O’Brien said. “The filly herself is in really good shape. She’s had a really good grounding now to step to 2500 metres. Her pedigree suggests she’ll do it, so all the signs are really positive that she’ll run a strong 2500 metres tomorrow.
Bred by Phoenix Broodmare Farm, Getta Good Feeling was a $400,000 purchase by Suman Hedge Bloodstock at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Weanling Sale before selling to Dean Hawthorne Bloodstock, who manages the breeding interests of prominent owner Jonathan Munz’s GSA Bloodstock, for $525,000 at the 2024 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
“She’s a good sort herself, hence why she made that sort of money as a yearling, and she’s got a fantastic temperament. On Saturday, Derby Day, she just strolled around the mounting yard like she was out for an afternoon walk. She’s a very, very relaxed filly, has plenty of class about her, and she’d be a deserving Oaks winner.”
O’Brien said Getta Good Feeling’s preparation was carefully structured to have her peaking on Oaks Day.
“When you’ve got a filly with her pedigree, the first time she stepped out was really just to have an experience at the races,” he said. “We always thought she’d reach her best distances once she got to around the 2000-metre mark, so we gave her that grounding earlier in the spring to be ready now to step into this.
“At 2000 metres we certainly knew she would put in a good performance, and now we’re hoping she can do the same over 2,500 metres.”
Saturday’s winning jockey Mark Zahra retains the ride, with the pair to jump from barrier four in a 13-horse field.
“She’s good out of the gates, she sat outside the lead on Saturday and from that start at Flemington, she should definitely be in the first two pairs, whether she’s outside leader or second pair, she’ll definitely be in the front half,” O’Brien said.
Now racing in red and white the silks of Munz’s Pinecliff Racing, she represents the first major success of a new partnership between O’Brien and the leading owner-breeder.
“We were fortunate Jonathan [Munz] bought her at the Easter Yearling Sale, Dean Hawthorne selected her and we had a previous horse for Jonathan, but it was by Preferment, a nice sort, but very slow, and we never actually ran it,” O’Brien said.
“So it’s not the first horse we’ve had for him, but he selected us to train this type of filly. He understands we’ve had great success with middle-distance fillies in the past, and fortunately chose us to train this filly for him.
“He’s very excited, and it would be a great result for both of us if we could deliver the Oaks tomorrow.”