O'BRIEN FEELING GOOD ABOUT OAKS

Danny O'Brien isn't concerned about the prospects of impending rain in the lead-up to Thursday's Group 1 VRC Oaks, after his three-year-old filly Getta Good Feeling took an apparent stranglehold on the race when she cruised home in the G2 Wakeful Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on Saturday.

"I think it would suit her, to be fair. So You Think gets a lot of very good wet-trackers and I don't think she'll be an exception," O'Brien said.

Sportsbet reacted by slashing Getting Good Feeling's Oaks price from $2.80 to $2 favourite.

Thirty-nine horses have completed the Wakeful Stakes-VRC Oaks double, including Treasurethe Moment last year.

O'Brien's only previous VRC Oaks success came in 2019 with Miami Bound, who also won the Wakeful Stakes but he said Miami Bound and Getta Good Feeling are different types of horses.

"Miami Bound was a smallish filly but the same sort of constitution. You need a tough filly to find her way through the Oaks, particularly when you want to do the back up," he said. "This filly has got a great constitution like Miami Bound had."

O'Brien said he had been on the record from when Getta Good Feeling finished third at Geelong at her debut.

"We've made no secret of our respect for this filly, from her first start in Geelong we've had this week in mind for her," he said.

He said things had gone to plan over spring with Getta Good Feeling's preparation.

"She's going to go to the Oaks in great shape. She's a filly that is big and strong by So You Think. He won a Mackinnon Stakes on this day about 15 years ago and he's passed away, so it is great to see his filly turning up and winning this and hopefully the Oaks on Thursday," O'Brien said.

Jockey Mark Zahra was impressed with Getta Good Feeling, saying she relaxed in the run but didn't help herself by stargazing up the straight. He assessed her win as 'effortless'.

"Only problem was when I took it up halfway up the straight, she had a good look around and with a bit of urging, she focused a bit and it was just the sort of win you hope for going into an Oaks," Zahra said.

Getta Good Feeling ($1.60 fav) defeated Strictly Business ($12) by a length-and-a-quarter, with Voting Rights ($41) the same distance away in third.

Story by Michael Manly for Racing.com

Pic by Racing Photos