Fell Swoop after milestone Group One

Damien Oliver will be out to maintain his perfect record on Fell Swoop who is out to break his Group One duck in the Oakleigh Plate.

Trained at Canberra by Matt Dale, Fell Swoop has his first start for 2017 at Caulfield on Saturday after finishing second in three Group One races last year including the Oakleigh Plate.

He was also third in the Group One Darley Classic at his most recent start in November.

Oliver has had two rides on the gelding for wins in two Listed races in the spring of 2015 in Melbourne.

Dale kept his first-up options open with Fell Swoop until last week before deciding on the Oakleigh Plate, rather than Saturday’s Lightning Stakes won by Terravista at Flemington.

“The Lightning ended up being about as deep as it could have been, and we decided to opt for the Oakleigh Plate to kick off in,” Dale said,.

“He kicked off in the Oakleigh Plate this time last year and he will follow a similar path, although he may go to the Newmarket instead of The Galaxy en route to the TJ Smith Stakes.”

Fell Swoop was second to Chautauqua in last year’s $2.5 million TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick.

“I’m very happy with how he has come up,” Dale said.

“He’s in really good order. He’s certainly done enough work to present fit and well for the Oakleigh Plate.”