22 S ome historical lists of winners of the VRC Oaks at Flemington date back only to 1861, the year of the first Melbourne Cup. The Victoria Derby validly traces its origins further to 1855, making it the oldest continuing classic race run in Australia, so on this basis the Oaks should actually date its beginnings to 1859. The winner Birdswing admittedly won in a onehorse race – the correct meaning of ‘a walkover’ – but she was a valid entry and she took home the prizemoney. Every year since then there has been an Oaks race for three-year-old fillies at Flemington, and mighty champions figure on the winning list. But it is fair to say that the VRC Oaks achieved proper status only in 1875 when Oaks Day was awarded its own feature Thursday in a revamped Melbourne Cup week. This was quickly tagged Ladies’ Day. The Oaks has often attracted small fields, but always furnished a quality winner. In that 1875 race in a field of three, the filly Maid of All Work, trained by James Wilson of St Albans Stud, Geelong, was the winner, ridden by his sixteen-year-old son William. Her daughter Royal Maid won the race six years later. Royal Maid is the only Oaks winner whose dam also won the Oaks. It’s a well-known Oaks fact that the late Bart Cummings holds the training record with nine winners, stretching from the 1965 Melbourne The David Hayes-trained, superstar filly Miss Finland, winning the 2006 VRC Oaks. (Kristian Dowling/Getty Images)
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