Fireball Miss, a three-year-old filly trained by Ciaron Maher and ridden by Declan Bates, won the Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2,200m) at Eagle Farm on June 6, defeating favourite Panova by 1¼ lengths and claiming A$700,000 in prize money [1, 2, 3]. Starting at odds of $55, Fireball Miss pulled off a surprise victory in the prestigious race.
This win followed her triumph in the Group 2 The Roses (2,000m) at Doomben on May 23, where Bates also rode her to victory [1, 2, 3]. Fireball Miss joined an elite group as only the fourth horse in 25 years to win the Roses-Queensland Oaks double, following Ethereal in 2001, Scarlett Lady in 2011, and Youngstar in 2018 [1, 2, 3].
Trainer Ciaron Maher attributed Fireball Miss's success to skipping the Adelaide carnival after a poor showing at the Group 3 Kembla Grange Classic in March. Maher said, "This filly has just thrived up here in Brisbane and at Eagle Farm. We had the option to go to Adelaide and we thought, no, we’ll put her on ice and just target up here, and you can see how well she looks. She has absolutely thrived. I think she is a filly for the future" [1].
Jockey Declan Bates admitted Fireball Miss did not settle well during the race, which is unusual for her. He said, "She didn’t even settle as well as I would have liked, which for her, is unusual. She was always in my hands a bit too much, which I was worried about over this trip. But when I peeled out, she built through her gears and put the race away halfway down the straight. A fantastic performance" [1]. This was Bates's first Oaks win and gave him a 'black type' double on the day after also winning the Listed The Show A Heart (1,500m) aboard Voynichese [1, 2, 3].
Fireball Miss’s stablemate Paltrow Miss, ridden by Craig Williams, finished third in the Queensland Oaks [1, 2, 3].
Maher has now won the Queensland Oaks twice, having previously won with Socks Nation in 2024 [1, 2, 3]. Meanwhile, Voynichese's trainer Nick Olive expressed high hopes for the Pinatubo two-year-old filly, saying, "We’ve had a big opinion of this filly for a while now". Olive plans to run Voynichese in the Group 1 JJ Atkins (1,600m) at Eagle Farm on June 13 following her Listed win [1, 2, 3].