Master trainer Bart Cummings landed his ninth VRC Oaks and jockey Michael Rodd his first when Faint Perfume won the $1 million fillies Classic at Flemington.
However it wasn't as easy as some may have thought as the $1.65 favourite had to fight hard to beat the game Valdemoro ($10) by a neck with Savsbelle ($41) 412 lengths away third.
''She has good staying ability and a good pedigree and when the pace is on here at Flemington you can get back and over the years good stayers always win,'' Cummings said.
''She's only a little filly, only about 15 hands, but she tries and she has a big heart.''
A daughter of French Derby winner Shamardal out of the Zabeel filly Zona, who was unplaced in four starts, Faint Perfume boasts 1997 AJC Oaks winner and AJC Derby runner-up Danendri as her grand-dam.
She is raced by Malaysian businessman Dato Tan Chin Nam who raced Zona and bred Faint Perfume who was retained after she was passed in for $40,000 at the Australian Easter Yearling Sale in Sydney.
Cummings said Faint Perfume measured up well with his past winners, the first of which was Light Fingers in 1964.
''She stays as well as them, some of them might be a little bit more brilliant than this particular one but she's going pretty good,'' he said.
Faint Perfume gave Cummings his 257th win at the highest level and his fourth Group1 winner of the spring so far having already won the Toorak Handicap with Allez Wonder, the Caulfield Cup with Viewed and the Cox Plate with So You Think.
So You Think will line up in tomorrow's $1million Emirates Stakes (1600m).
Faint Perfume became the 33rd filly to complete the Wakeful (2000m)-Oaks (2500m) double after Rodd let her drop back to second last in a genuinely-run race and the filly quickly made ground in the straight.
She forged past Valdemoro who wouldn't give up.
''She was very tired and started to lay in at the end,'' Rodd said.
''She was the best filly today here at Flemington and I guess in Australia but they are going to catch up to her soon because she's only little so it's going to be really hard for her to make a good go of it next time in.''
Maiden Valdemoro, who has raced just five times for four seconds, pleased trainer Tony Vasil and jockey Nick Hall who just missed securing a second Group1 winner.
''She's done a great job in what is her first preparation,'' Vasil said.
''She's run second to arguably the best filly in Australia.''
Graeme Rogerson was proud of third placegetter Savsbelle.
''We had a plan and we tried to pressure them 400m out but the first two were too good,'' he said.
''She gave us a thrill but she is still three months away from being a mature filly.''
Melito ($10) failed to stay, finishing tailed off in the 12-horse field to finish last.
AAP