Miss Oakley starts life off under Archard in winning fashion

In just her third career start, and first under Archard, Miss Oakley and jockey Declan Bates jumped well from barrier one, before using the inside lane to lead around the turn.

But with Russell Osborne’s Kooky Kangaroo coming on strong from the outside, and four-year-old Haesta making a late run down the straight, Miss Oakley was made to push it right to the line to snare the prize by a nose over Kooky Kangaroo in second.

Archard said the Good 4 track at Swan Hill suited Miss Oakley to a tee.

“She ran an extremely fast time (56.80); you find horses with tendon issues, the harder the track the better,” Archard said.

“She’s very tenacious, the other horses passed her but she came back again from behind and got up.”

Archard said he and a group of first-time owners had had Miss Oakley for some time, as they tried to get her right after being plagued by injuries.

“She hurt her tendon with a previous trainer 15 months ago, and I brought her off them,” Archard said.

“We got her going, but she hurt her tendon again so we’ve only just got her going again.

“It’s been 15 to 16 months between runs.”

Archard said there was a lot to like about Miss Oakley, with the future goal increasing her distance.

"She went very well today and she will improve a lot on the run, as we don’t do a lot of work with her,’’ he said.

“She trialled really well in Benalla about three weeks ago, which gave us a good indication that she has come back really good.

“It was 975m today, but she’ll get out a bit further, 1200-1400m, once I get her properly fit. She’s probably only 75 per cent fit.”

The Archard-trained Headman was also in the hunt to break his maiden at Swan Hill, before finishing sixth in the $25,000 Maiden Plate over 1200m.

“He’s coming off a long spell too, but he might take a run or two before he hits his straps,” Archard said of the four-year-old.

“He needs to get up over 1600m, that’s more his go, but we need to start him somewhere.”