Gold Coast trainer Kelly Doughty has the Queensland Oaks 2017 as a long term goal for her smart filly Benfica Princess who lines-up shooting for a third straight win in Brisbane this weekend.

The three-year-old daughter of Benfica comes off back-to-back wins at the Sunshine Coast over a mile and on Saturday takes on a big field in a Class 3 at set weights at Eagle Farm.

Drawn the outside alley in a 16-starter field, the up-and-comer runs in the $40,000 Functions @ Tattersall’s Class 3 Plate (1500m) with Jeff Lloyd retaining the ride.

She gets in on 54kg and with the wide alley to overcome sits as a $12 shot in betting at Ladbrokes.com.au with markets firmly led by the Matthew Dunn-trained Bel Esprit mare Say You Love Me ($3.50) in barrier two.

Doughty is looking for her filly to hit the line well taking on the older gallopers on Recognition Stakes Day as she gears her up for a testing Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival campaign next year.

Ultimately she would love to see her run out a longer trip and shape-up as a competitive chance in the $500,000 Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2400m) at Eagle Farm on June 3, 2017.

Saturday will give the team a chance to assess where their filly is at, Doughty’s husband Gary believing Benfica Princess is well suited to the race despite it not being against her own age group.

“We usually like to keep them to their own age group. But she beat older horses at the Sunshine Coast and she did it well,” he told AAP speaking of the filly’s last-to-first win there on November 16 in a Class 1.

“There are not many horses who could do what she did there. She really does have a big finish.”

He confirmed they had one more run over a mile scheduled for Benfica Princess this campaign before putting her away for a spell ahead of the winter.

“We are then thinking about a Queensland Oaks campaign. It is a fair way off but she does show potential,” Doughty said.

Lloyd agreed that the filly was full of promise and was happy to be back in the saddle after guiding her for the last start victory at the Sunshine Coast where she posted her second victory from 10 career runs.

“She does show plenty of ability and can pick up when you urge her along,” the hoop said.

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