Oxley Road is unfortunate to be in an era of such brilliant sprinters, similar to another Peter Moody sprinter Magnus 15 years ago.
Trainer Peter Moody believe there is a Group 1 win in Oxley Road, but he needs to pick the right race to achieve that goal.
Oxley Road is entered for the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Flemington on Saturday but Moody needs to talk it over with the owners of the four-year-old before committing to a start.
Moody said Oxley Road reminds him of Magnus, now a successful sire, who landed his solitary Group 1 win in The Galaxy at Warwick Farm in 2007.
Magnus was also placed four times at Group 1 level, beaten by Miss Andretti in a Lightning Stakes and running second twice to Weekend Hussler in the Oakleigh Plate and Newmarket Handicap before going on to Singapore where he finished second to Takeover Target.
“I had to keep on dodging Miss Andretti and Bently Biscuit and Takeover Target,” Moody said.
I knew I had a Group 1 horse but there was another four or five Group 1 sprinters out there as well.”
Moody said it was a similar scenario with Oxley Road.
At his most recent outing, Oxley Road finished third to Marabi and Away Game in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield on February 26.
Beside the Newmarket, another option for Oxley Road could be the Group 1 William Reid Stakes (1200m) at The Valley on March 25.
“He’s in the Newmarket but I’m going to have a chat with the owners,” Moody said.
“The William Reid is weight-for-age and he’ll have to take on Ciaron’s mare again.
“The Newmarket is a handicap and he’s got to take on Home Affairs, but Home Affairs needs to be Schillaci to win it with the weight and that’s not mentioning horses like Nature Strip and Eduardo and Masked Crusader.
“I think he could be a Group 1 winner, but we’ve just got to pick the mark and maybe The Galaxy could be that race.”
The Group 1 Galaxy (1100m) will be run at Rosehill on Saturday week.