3 minute read
The win of Lasqueti Spirit in the 2016 VRC Oaks is one that racing fans will find hard to forget.
Sent around as the 120-1 outsider of the field, Brenton Avdulla took her to the front and lead from start to finish in a dominating 3.75 length victory.
Her trainer Lee Curtis believes he may have another Lasqueti Spirit in his stable, with promising two-year-old Achira.
Achira finished third in the Clarendon Stakes for the two-year-olds on Saturday at Hawkesbury, and Curtis believes the resemblance to Lasqueti Spirit is uncanny.
"We think she's got a lot of Lasqueti Spirit about her," he said.
"She's the same weight she was at the same time. She's a tall-ish, sort of solid filly with a great constitution. She's got a very similar constitution to Lasqueti Spirit, so we're thinking we'll put her out now and bring her back and have a look at races in the spring like the VRC Oaks.
"We think she's going to be at least a miler, whether she gets a mile and a half I don't know but we think she'll get a mile and 2000m at least.
"We're thinking that (the VRC Oaks) could be something that she could line up for."
Curtis has another up-and-coming filly in his yard, with I Love Lucy making her first appearance since her spell last week.
The daughter of Maurice finished twelfth in the Gimcrack Stakes at Group 3 level in her only start in her career to date.
The dual-Group 1 winning trainer says he's happy with how the two-year-old has developed.
"When she came back after the Ginmcrack, she only went out and had a very short spell because we were hoping to take her to Queensland and I don't think she spelled for long enough," he said.
"She had two trials and they were just so-so trials, they were okay without them being good enough to go for anything good. So, we thought we'd give her three, three and a half months in the paddock to strengthen up.
"I'm happy with her."
I Love Lucy will trial again next week before Curtis sets any plans for the filly, whilst Achira enjoys a nice break from racing and will return in the spring.
