“Her Running Style Is Like Found's” – Has Moore Chosen Right In The Oaks?

As is often the case, the opponent that may well have Ryan Moore looking over his shoulder as he attempts to win Coolmore yet another Classic could be coming from the same stable on Friday with Aidan O'Brien readying two salvos at the G1 Betfred Oaks. While there is no disputing that on the formbook, the G1 Fillies' Mile-winning TDN Rising Star Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}) is the number one, there is a sense of stealthy acceleration through the ranks for the yard's regally-bred maiden Rubies Are Red (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). A full-sister to the Arc heroine Found (Ire), the latter was impossible to ignore as she steamed through the line in the Listed Lingfield Oaks Trial.

Interestingly sent to the same Leopardstown maiden in April used for last year's Oaks runner-up  Savethelastdance (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Rubies Are Red almost denied You Got To Me (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) her sensational success three weeks ago with barnstorming final splits. What played against her was her inability to travel down Lingfield's descent to the straight, so that might be a sticking point on these similar undulations, but equally that could have been down to inexperience. Forever Together (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) won this for Ballydoyle as a maiden and it is intriguing that she has been selected to come to Surrey despite the presence of the favourite.

Ylang Ylang goes up four furlongs in trip, having run truer to her pedigree when fifth in the G1 1,000 Guineas four weeks ago than she did when beating the speedy Vespertilio (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) in the seven-furlong G3 Silver Flash S. at Leopardstown last July. If she was able to brandish her zealous nature in winning that prize, that side of her nature quickly led to a mid-season slump before a calmer, more tractable version of her was displayed in her Fillies' Mile success.

Despite her obvious credentials, Ryan Moore's selection meets genuine mile-and-a-half-plus candidates here so she has something else to prove. Perhaps the devil was in the detail in Thursday's words on Rubies Are Red from O'Brien. “She is definitely an Oaks-type filly,” he declared. “Her running style is like Found's, in that she takes her time and comes late. Ryan said she was very green at Lingfield and he nursed her.”

Of Ylang Ylang, he added, “We were very happy with her in the Guineas. We thought going to the Guineas that she was an Oaks filly given the way she had been working and that is how she ran. Her run in the Moyglare was a shocker. She was able to reverse it when she got into the right mindset and I imagine some of the fillies that were behind her in the Guineas were ahead of her in the Moyglare, so it's amazing the way things can swing around.”

Ryan Moore seems confident that he has picked the right one and said, “It's an open Oaks, I suppose, but I'd say Ylang Ylang fully deserves her place at the head of the market. She was doing all her best work at the finish when winning the Fillies' Mile on soft ground last season and she again shaped as if a greater test of stamina would suit when fifth in the Guineas and that is the best form on offer going into this race. By some way. The mile-and-a-half trip is not certain on pedigree, but I'd be positive on that front and she is clearly the one to beat for me.”

More Aga Khan Classic Glory In 2024?

The Aga Khan's season has already started brighter than any in recent memory, with Rouhiya (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) winning the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, and it is fair to say that the operation's candidate Ezeliya (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) has Oaks written all over her. From the stamina-packed family of the G1 Gold Cup-winning half-siblings Enzeli (Ire) (Kahyasi {Ire}) and Estimate (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}) and the G1 Irish Oaks heroine Ebadiyla (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), the Dermot Weld project won a key trial in the 10-furlong G3 Salsabil S. at Navan looking for all the world like this Epsom test would suit.

“I've had 24 winners of English and Irish Classics, but Blue Wind was the first and so that was a very special day for me,” Weld said as he reflected on his 1981 breakthrough winner. “She was a very good filly who went on to win the Irish Oaks and ended the season the champion filly of Europe. She was a big, strong filly and she won by seven lengths from Madam Gay, who went on to win the Prix de Diane. I've only had a few runners at Epsom, but it's been lucky for me. I also won the Derby with Harzand and we were second in the Oaks with Tarfasha, who was beaten only by another very high-class filly in Taghrooda.”

“The Salsabil form was let down a little bit in the Irish 1,000 Guineas, but I'm satisfied with my filly,” the master of Rosewell House added. “She's a medium-sized filly with quality and I expect her to run a good race. She's never been over a mile and a half, but she gives every impression that the trip will suit. We hope it will, but I can assure you she isn't short of pace.”

Continuing Of A Trend?

Fascinatingly, both English Classics staged so far this term have gone to those who started on the all-weather during the winter and it would really be something if the unbeaten Forest Fairy (Ire) (Waldgeist {GB}) could carry on that quirk here. Dazzling on debut at Wolverhampton in February, the least-exposed of Ralph Beckett's four runners had to work for her follow-up three months later in the Listed Cheshire Oaks. What that form is worth remains to be seen, with Aidan O'Brien opting not to send the runner-up Port Fairy (Ire) (Australia {GB}) into action here, but it is notable that the filly that beat Rubies Are Red at Leopardstown, Galileo Dame (Ire) (Galileo Gold {GB}), was well-beaten. On pedigree, she is a far more suitable Oaks candidate than the G3 Musidora S. winner Secret Satire (GB) (Advertise {GB}) or Godolphin's G3 Oh So Sharp S. winner Dance Sequence (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), so it could be that she holds the key to the British defence from a stable that excels with middle-distance fillies.

Can Emily Repeat?

Anyone who knows anything about sectional timing knows that the 2023 G1 Coronation Cup success of TDN Rising Star Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) marked her out as one of the race's very best winners and she is back to defend her title on Friday. Her stunning 10.52 split between the three and the two went unmatched over the two days, including in the Derby and while it is true that her overall form is patchy, this is an elite performer so it is welcome that connections have kept her in training at five. Triptych won this as a five and six-year-old, so the ball is in the court of the Gosdens' mare to get some consistency in 2024.

Like Emily Upjohn, fellow TDN Rising Star Feed The Flame (GB) (Kingman (GB) also needs to find a more level way of operating with his impressive G1 Grand Prix de Paris success now feeling more and more like a distant memory. His latest third in the 10 1/2-furlong G1 Prix Ganay gave hope that he is on the way back and it is worth remembering that Pascal Bary talked often of him being a “next-year horse” despite his 3-year-old exploits. Connections have come here looking for a mile-and-a-half test and with the likes of Hamish (GB) (Motivator {GB}) and Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) in attendance, he should get that. This was a race the French, and in particular Andre Fabre, at one time dominated with seven wins between 1986 and 1996.

Epsom Dodges The Rain…

While the forecast last week suggested this could be one of those soggy Derby festivals, Clerk of the Course Andrew Cooper had some welcome news on Thursday. “We haven't seen a lot of rain yet here today. It was a cloudy morning with a few light showers, which gave us about a millimetre and it actually ended up being quite a pleasant, dry afternoon. I think we've got some showery rain heading our way this evening, there's still some potential for that here, so watch this space on that, but I don't expect it to be thundery heavy or anything like that.”

“I've left the ground for now at good-to-soft, which is where we were at first thing this morning, because prior to this morning, we'd basically been dry since Tuesday afternoon. There was nothing I'd really call soft, so I think good-to-soft remains a fair call as it is. It will have dried a fraction during the course of the day here, but it wasn't the kind of temperature or dry enough for it to dry very quickly. Tomorrow, there looks a lot of dry weather but we could have a kind of drizzly spell through the morning potentially.”

“It's not a completely dry picture, but there doesn't look anything particularly heavy and Saturday looks dry. In Flat-racing terms, I think most people would say slightly faster ground would be perfect, but I think if it stays dry, we would be heading towards good, certainly. Whatever it ends up, it's a nice, consistent surface–it's not erratic and it walks very consistently.”