Party time for Nolan and Exotique Miss

By Glenn Davis

It will be a special celebration for Toowoomba trainer Michael Nolan and a group of mates if Exotique Miss wins the Magic Millions National Classic at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

Exotique Miss lines up in the Weight For Age feature as an $8 chance following her last start third in the Group 3 Pam O’Neill at Doomben last month.

The four-year-old previously finished sixth, beaten one-and-a-half lengths, by the Tony Gollan-trained Floozie in the Listed Silk Stocking at the Gold Coast on May 10.

“We were more than happy with her run in the Pam O’Neill,” Nolan said.

“She raced forward but was taken on and we feel she would have won if left alone.”

Exotique Miss is raced by Nolan’s close friends Shaun Buckle, Paul Reedy, Tony Franke, Chris Tait and Dave Robinson, whom he has known for more than 20 years.

“All of them are good mates of mine from Toowoomba and they’ve had shares in a lot of horses with me in the past,” Nolan said.

“Mu uncle Basil bred her and they joined in her ownership when she was offered for sale.

“She was passed in at the Rockhampton sales and we bought her a year later out of the paddock.”

Exotique Miss’s breeding throws back to former star mare Slight Chance who won six Group 1s under the care of former Sydney trainer Bob Thomsen.

Among Slight Chance’s wins at the highest level was the Queensland Oaks in 1993.

It was one of the reasons why her owners hoped to run her in last year’s Queensland Oaks at Eagle Farm.

Exotique Miss stamped herself as a potential Queensland Oaks contender after winning the Listed Daybreak Lover last year before finishing fifth in the Listed Princess Stakes at Eagle Farm.

Unfortunately, the daughter of 2016 Stradbroke Handicap winner Under The Louvre missed the Queensland Oaks after fading to finish seventh in the Gold Coast Bracelet on a heavy track when it was run at the Sunshine Coast last year.

“We came up short for the Queensland Oaks so I still don’t know whether she can stay or not,” Nolan said.

“We pulled the pin on the Oaks after she ran on a very heavy track in the Gold Coast Bracelet at the Sunshine Coast.”

Nolan, who won the 1999 Group 1 Doomben 10,000 with Laurie's Lottery, believes the Weight For Age scale is his mare’s biggest disadvantage in the Magic Millions National Classic.

“She’ll race well but I’d much prefer it to be a handicap,” Nolan said.

“She races well at Eagle Farm and loves the track but she’s on the same weight as all the others under Weight For Age.”