In the countdown to the Warrnambool May Racing Carnival this week, local racing exports Ciaron Maher and Laura Lafferty tasted success in Adelaide and Melbourne on Saturday.
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Maher won his first Group One Australasian Oaks (2000 metres) with Affaire A Suivre at Morphettville, while Lafferty rode Jenny Jerome and Barbie's Fox to victory at Sandown.
Affaire A Suivre's win took Maher's group one-winning tally to 33 and comes on the back of other big group one features including the Melbourne Cup, Sydney Cup and Manikato Stakes in recent months.
Maher, who trains in partnership with David Eustace, said Affaire A Suivre had been given time to mature and is confident there is more big race wins in the filly.
"We've just given Affaire A Suivre time to find her feet," Maher told The Standard. "We raced her through her lower grades.
"We gave her time to develop and now it's paying dividends.
"She's a nice type of filly. She's just gone to another level in this preparation.
"I thought it was a big run by her. We've now got to look at giving her a start in the Queensland Oaks on June 3.
"It's great to win another Group One and is a wonderful reward for the hard work that our staff put in."
Affaire A Suivre took her stake earnings to more than $370,000 with the win.
Lafferty, who is apprenticed to Ben and JD Hayes, won on Barbie's Fox for her bosses while Jenny Jerome is trained by Patrick Payne.
Meanwhile, Karalee Rocks who is trained by Warrnambool mentor Lindsey Smith failed to lift the hopes of his supporters with an unplaced run in a $130,000 race at Sandown.
Karalee Rocks was the favourite for the 1300-metre race after scoring an impressive victory for Smith at her first start for the astute trainer at Geelong.
Smith said the wide barrier never helped Karalee Rocks chances in the race.
