Sadly this race is starting to suffer from the movement of the NZ Derby and the cornerstone each season of reliability in the 3yo filly is now under duress. This was once the best race each season for providing future success for bettors (the most important thing in horse racing if you want decent stakemoney), the owners and then the breeders and buyers. The fillies ran one and two in the 2013 Derby and neither ran today so the race had more than a tinge of lacking credibility, which is a shame. Trentham seems to have bowed down to Ellerslie and is just accepting their major races are second tier or lead up stuff nowadays for Auckland, so some ticker needs to be shown or else the capital of New Zealand will lose that title too! More Than Sacred is an Australian bred filly so the slap in the face of the once legendary New Zealand bred stayer is waning and to be beaten in the Oaks is almost sacrilege. Fillies are the rock of New Zealand racing. The NZ Oaks is an all or nothing source with six of the winners this century having won at Group level since and a tidy six G1 wins (three at G1 from Princess Coup and one each from Keep The Peace, Legs and Tapildo (in Singapore) achieved so far. Eighteen wins have been racked up from winners of the NZ Oaks this century afterwards with Boundless (six more wins and three of them came at G2 or G3) the most prolific. The number of NZ Oaks winners that never won another race this century afterwards is four, with four more having scored just once more win since capturing the race. More Than Sacred should join the wins again since list as she won well today and has that look of a stayer even if the field she beat is suspect plus the time of 2:20.46 is the second slowest run this century. The race was mostly a non-stayer finish and letting the rank outsider at 113-1 lead and dictate was just ridiculous. Even worse and more embarrassing for the riders of many well backed runners was this rank outsider maiden Jagersfontein had achieved just one third in her six starts coming into the race and finished seventh today at G1. More Than Sacred showed it was an on or near the pace finish with the her, the runner up and fourth finisher settling down running second, third and fourth. Cambridge will be as proud as punch as that training establishment have now have won the last five NZ Oaks (Jungle Rocket (2009), Keep The Peace (2010), Midnight Oil (2011), Artistic (2012) and now More Than Sacred). The Oaks Stud formed the quinella in the race last year and today finished second and third, with Blanket Bay runner up and Aurora Lights an eyecatching third. Blanket Bay does not look like a stayer and give in the ground will be imperative but she loomed large halfway up the run home though the race pattern and lack of pressure helped her cause and many others. Aurora Lights ran on stoutly after losing her position across the top but significantly the filly came through closer in the run home and not down the outer where almost nothing made ground. Emerald Queen was perhaps the only runner to wind up down the outer from the back but to show the race pace and track bias folly she only beat a rank outsider maiden home by just over a length. She would beat if by double figures at any other venue and the inside and on pace bias at Trentham was yet another day of this track not behaving fairly. A forgivable outing for Siciliani as she clipped a heel at the 300m when going for an inside run. Three of the four favourites finished tenth, eleventh and fourteenth are solely down to rider error and not reading the race pace and/or track bias today. These all Group performed fillies prior got beaten home by a one-placing lifetime maiden at 113-1 by almost two lengths or more. It just is a nonsense result therefore. High Fashion the hotpot was a terrible ride full stop and the obligatory track too firm excuse came out to mask the human error as a rival horse ate my homework just will not cut it with stewards (I hope!). Chandelier and Soriano both got the obligatory had enough for the season excuse used when riders stuff up deluxe but maybe the latter name is accepted for that as she has run in just about everything. No filly got stamina tested in the 2013 NZ Oaks as the race pace was set by a maiden paying telephone numbers, so hard to believe anything was really learned at all. More Than Sacred keeps going at the same rate when put on the pace and being a late developer she could race on as nothing had a hard run today at all. The video of this race will not be in the collection of several senior riders as they never ever keep blooper reels do they!