In this column last week, a topic that was touched on was the great record of those towards the head of the market in the Queensland Derby.

It's been 38 years since that 2400-metre Group 1 – which will now be run this weekend after last Saturday's postponement – was won by a horse at longer odds than $13 and 20 of the 29 winners since 1995 started $6 or shorter.

The Queensland Derby's sister Classic – the $700,000 Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2200m), which will be run this Saturday at Eagle Farm – has had 12 winners at $6 or shorter in the same time frame but has been more prone to a blowout result.

That was no more evident than last year when Socks Nation won at $101, which made that Ciaron Maher-trained filly the longest-priced winner of an elite-level race in Queensland since the introduction of the Group 1 classification system in 1979.

Mon Mekki ($51), Miss Keepsake ($31), Riva San ($26), Winning Ways ($21) and Zagalia ($21) are other roughies who have won at 20/1 or greater this century alone.

There is no shortage of roughies in this year's Oaks, which has drawn a big field of 18 plus five emergencies, but favourite, at $4.20, is the David Vandyke-trained Philia.

The half-sister to 2021 Queensland Oaks winner Duais is coming off a win in the Doomben Roses, which until Covid was clearly the best guide to the Queensland Oaks.

Only three fillies have done the Roses/Oaks double – Ethereal (2001), Scarlett Lady (2011) and Youngstar (2018) – but 11 of the 15 winners prior to the Covid hiatus of 2020 were won by fillies out of The Roses.

None of the four winners since the post-covid resumption contested The Roses.

Philia ran a Racing And Sports Rating of 106 to win The Roses, which is slightly up on Youngstar's mark of 105, which she also ran to win the Oaks, while Ethereal and Scarlett Lady both ran 109 in The Roses and elevated to 115 in the Oaks.

The filly who has come closest to that rating ahead of Saturday's Oaks is $5 second favourie Benagil, who ran to 111 when second to likely 3YO Filly Of The Year recipient Treasurethe Moment in the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) on April 1.

She ran 107 to win the Group 1 Australasian Oaks (2000m), a race that has provided the Queensland Oaks winner just once this millennium.

That was in 2017 when Egg Tart became the first of the nine Australasian Oaks winners to contest the Queensland Oaks to win both races.