Fireball Miss stamped herself a star of the future and sealed an incredible double for her dam Femme Fireball with a dominant triumph in the June 6 Queensland Oaks (G1) at Eagle Farm Racecourse.
Drawing wide in gate 13 of 18, the Ciaron Maher-trained Bennett Racing filly gave jockey Declan Bates some concern when travelling keenly in the run, three wide with cover in midfield behind a genuine pace.
But Bates needn't have worried.
Presented for her run some eight horses wide rounding Eagle Farm's home bend, Fireball Miss stormed powerfully up the straight to hit the lead at the 250 meters, going away to score by 1 1/4 lengths.
Sent out on the fourth line of betting amid some support at AU$8.50, Fireball Miss beat home Chris Waller's AU$4 favorite Panova, with Maher's other runner, AU$13 shot Paltrow Miss holding on for third a further three-quarters of a length away.
Becoming the fourth filly to complete the double of the The Roses (G2) and the Oaks, Fireball Miss's winner's purse of AU$420,000 catapulted her Darley stallion Bivouac from third to first on a congested second-season sires' table, and may have sealed him the title.
Bivouac leapfrogged the late Wootton Bassett and Vinery Stud's Farnan to sit some AU$360,000 clear atop the ladder on progeny earnings, with Darley's Ghaiyyath also in the mix in fourth spot.
But most remarkably of all, Fireball Miss became the second elite victor from just two runners for her dam Femme Fireball, following last year's South Australian Derby (G1) success of big sister Femminile.
Both fillies were bred by hobby breeder Simon Delzoppo, a Gold Coast IT entrepreneur who has just five mares.
Maher was delighted after raising his 64th group 1 victory with Fireball Miss, who was bought from Vinery's draft at Inglis Easter 2024 by Bennett Racing for AU$140,000, as the cheapest of the three Bivouacs at the sale. She's now earned AU$679,000—to the delight of the owners who launched raucous mounting yard celebrations after Saturday's hugely value-boosting win.
"I'm just rapt," Maher said. "She's just thrived up here in Queensland.
"Full credit to Nathan Bennett and his team. They just keep finding these nice horses.
"We knew this filly had it. Declan Bates rode a cool, calm and collected ride."
Bates was full of praise for Fireball Miss's toughness after the Oaks, saying he'd been worried for most of the race in her first rise to 2,200 meters (about 1 3/8 miles).
"I wasn't super happy in the run," the Irishman said. "She began OK but it was a little bit messy, and she didn't relax as she normally does, and when you're stepping out to this trip for the first time, the main thing is just to switch off.
"She never felt like she was fully switched off underneath me, but it didn't matter. She started coming on very easily, just started to build through her gears on the bend and put them away."
