IM Desirable has not put a hoof wrong for The Lagoon's Steve Turnbull thus far but the filly is going to have to find another level of greatness to win this Saturday's NSW Oaks Heat (1,609 metres) at Menangle.
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Turnbull's Betterthancheddar filly has been a picture of perfection around the Central West circuit this past year and will look to take that form in the city for her first look at the Sydney track.
Im Desirable is five wins from seven starts, and given some back luck unfolded during her pair of fourth placings it could have easily been seven from seven.
She will travel to Sydney on the back of consecutive Bathurst wins, which demonstrated that she's returned from a brief spell looking better than ever.
Turnbull said his filly's lead up to the Oaks has impressed him.
"We're really happy with her. I know it's going to be a big step up but I've been really happy with her work. We're going in as good as we can possibly have her so hopefully she can take that step up," he said.
"At her Dubbo run she didn't have much luck when she got back and drew wide, so I've never been disappointed with her runs, even the two that she got beaten in.
"We gave her those two runs before the heats. She could only have a fortnight off. I wanted to give her a good spell but she would have been found wanting for the Oaks. It fell so close to when I wanted to spell her, so we gave her just those two weeks in the paddock.
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"We're going into it fit. We'll see what happens."
Turnbull will be in the driver's seat as Im Desirable goes out from gate five.
Early markets have Emma Stewart's Tough Tilly and Jason Grimson's Chrissy Chic fighting it out for favouritism, with daylight back to third.
I've never been disappointed with her runs, even the two that she got beaten in.
- Steve Turnbull
The pair have drawn well for the event, in three and four respectively, and are two of Australia's elite juveniles.
Tough Tilly has a Group 1 Victoria Breeders Super Series title and a Breeders Crown runner-up to her name.
Those two results alone netted her connections $113,000 in prizemoney.
Chrissy Chic is chasing a fifth victory on the trot and in December claimed a win at Menangle in a 1:52.4 mile rate - just short of the Australasian record for two-year-old fillies.
Turnbull said it will take something special for his filly to knock down the big names.
"There's some pretty handy ones in it and these are always fairly hard races," he said.
Bathurst has strong representation across the night's three heats with Amanda Turnbull's Whos My Mother and Blaze Coops, Bernie Hewitt's Iamajoyride and Beta Jewel plus Chris Frisby's Aunty Bella.