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Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators

Oakford trainer Ross Olivieri has Taking the Miki close to her best after four impressive runs since resuming from a spell, and she looks set to prove hard to beat in the $50,000 APG Sales Classic for three-year-old fillies at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

Taking The Miki, handily drawn at barrier No. 3 on the front line, is sure to appreciate a return to her age group after a stout-hearted and somewhat unlucky fourth behind outstanding open-class mare Savvy Bromac last Friday week.

Taking The Miki, to be driven by Chris Voak, led for the first 1000m before being overtaken by Savvy Bromac and then losing momentum when the pace slackened at her latest appearance. She fought on gamely into fourth position. She had finished second at her three previous outings after resuming from a spell.

Taking The Miki, Wonderful To Fly and Sovrana look set to fight out the finish. Wonderful To Fly, trained and driven by Shane Young, will start from barrier two on the back line. A winner at ten of her 19 starts she is versatile.

Wonderful To Fly started from the outside barrier in a field of nine a fortnight ago when she raced in the breeze for much of the way before bursting to the front 350m from home. She led by a length on the home turn before wilting to finish third behind Sovrana and the pacemaker Queeninthecorner.       

A fortnight earlier Wonderful To Fly gave a superb frontrunning display to win by 10m from Taking The Miki, rating 1.57.5 over 2130m, with final quarters of 27.9sec. and 27.1sec.

Sovrana, trained and driven by Aiden de Campo, will have many admirers on Friday night, despite starting from barrier eight. She also began from the No. 8 barrier last Friday week when she settled down in sixth position before following Wonderful To Fly in the one-out, one-back position and then finishing powerfully to take the lead in the final 40m and win by a half-length from Queeninthecorner.

The Mike Reed-trained Queeninthecorner was a runaway all-the-way winner three days earlier, and she cannot be left out of calculations from the awkward draw of No. 7 on Friday night.