Queensland Oaks heroine begins latest winter carnival mission

Queensland Oaks winner Socks Nation will kick off her latest campaign at the stand-alone Hawkesbury meeting as she heads towards another tilt at some lucrative winter carnival targets.

The mare will resume in the Hawkesbury Crown (1300m) on Saturday and while trainer Ciaron Maher’s assistant Johann Gerard-Dubord expects her to improve as her distances are increased, he is happy with how she has returned to work.

“As we saw last prep, she has done well from three to four and I think there will be some nice races for her up in Queensland,” Gerard-Dubord said.

“She looks very well and she has had a good base in Victoria. She just arrived here (in Sydney) last week.

“She will improve on whatever she does but it’s a good starting point.”

Socks Nation was an upset winner of the Oaks but proved it was no fluke with Group 1 placings behind Atishu in the Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) in November and stablemate Light Infantry Man in the Northerly Stakes (1800m) during Perth’s summer carnival.

Gerard-Dubord said those efforts were heartening given many three-year-olds often took time to successfully transition to open company.

“Three-year-olds who win restricted races like the Queensland Oaks, most of the time they find it hard to step up to open company but she did that well,” he said.

“Something like the Doomben Cup could be her race, but you’ve got the Q22 after that which is worth good prizemoney and 2200 metres will be fine too.”

The stable will decide closer to race day whether Tiz Invincible takes her place in the Hawkesbury Crown after drawing barrier 11 with the three-time stakes winner also scheduled to be offered for auction at the upcoming Inglis Chairman’s Sale.

The winner of two of the four legs of the 2023 Princess Series, Tiz Invincible has struggled to recapture that form but she has shown glimpses of it and was Group 3 placed at Flemington in the spring.

Gerard-Dubord said a genuine tempo was crucial to her chances, something she didn’t get when unplaced in the Sapphire Stakes (1200m) first-up at Randwick.

“On her work at home, I couldn’t fault her. She is working very well and she looks as good as she ever has,” he said.

“Without saying she can get back to what we saw as an early three-year-old, she has still got some nice races left in her.”

Hawkesbury was rated a heavy 9 on Wednesday but the forecast was for mainly fine conditions until race day.