By Tom Frary
In the absence of Ezeliya (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}), Saturday's G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks already had an open feel before Ryan Moore decided to give up the ride on the winner of one of this Classic's key pointers in Port Fairy (Ire) (Australia {GB}). Two of the last five Irish Oaks heroines had captured the G2 Ribblesdale Stakes en route, so the rejection of such a promising and unexposed winner of that Royal Ascot feature can only point to the strong claims of his pick from the Ballydoyle trio. Much more journeyed than her stablemate, Content (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was a heavily-campaigned 2-year-old whose best form came over a mile when winning the G3 Staffordstown Stud Stakes here and finishing fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Perhaps it was the fact that she was out of the high-class sprinter Mecca's Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) or maybe it was due to the furious pace she had shown early in her career, but the G1 Pretty Polly Stakes was the first time Content had tried more than a mile and she showed enough to Moore when third three weeks ago to suggest she was too good to pass up here. Success would provide her landmark sire with his overdue landmark century of Group 1 winners and not many jockeys would want to miss out on being part of that episode.
Aidan O'Brien is looking for a record-extending eighth renewal and said, “Ryan loved the filly he rode in Ascot and obviously had to think about riding the other filly, but the other filly's run in the Pretty Polly was exceptional. We weren't sure what was going to happen, with those Galileo fillies when they go up in trip things can happen like that sometimes. Ryan said she absolutely flew through the line. He said she relaxed well and he'd have been very comfortable going further with her. He was very impressed with her that day.”
“Content has lots of class, we weren't sure about the mile and a quarter but she got it well and it looks like she'll get further,” he added. “Port Fairy is very genuine and straightforward. She's been in good shape since Ascot. She got the trip well in Ascot and she's a lovely filly as well. We were delighted with her in Ascot and she's come forward every week since. They are two good-moving fillies, so I'd imagine soft ground wouldn't be a plus for any of them.”
Port Fairy held Lava Stream (Ire) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) in the Ribblesdale and it is hard to see how that form can be turned around with identical ground conditions and behind them is a clutch of fillies who have appeared on the biggest stages with admirable bit-parts so far. Although the Oaks third, fourth and fifth War Chimes (Fr) (Summer Front), You Got To Me (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and Caught U Looking (Ire) (Harzand {Ire}), the G1 Prix de Diane fifth Dare To Dream (Fr) (Camelot {GB}) and the G1 Irish 1,000 Guineas fifth Purple Lily (Ire) (Calyx {GB}) have claims, none offer major clues that they are Irish Oaks winner material.
Perhaps that is why Wathnan Racing's untried Lope De Lilas (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) has attracted so much attention in the lead-up to this race, but Willie Mullins will have had to work the oracle to get her to a pitch where she can be competitive off just a Leopardstown maiden win. This is not a Classic that tends to be won by a filly with such a low-key profile, so she would have to be special to make the leap.
Willie Mullins is looking to repeat the feat of his late father Paddy, who saddled the 2003 Irish Oaks winner Vintage Tipple (Ire) (Entrepreneur {GB}), and his son and assistant Patrick explained the importance of the moment for the family. “It would mean a huge amount to Willie if he could emulate his father in winning an Irish Oaks and it would be up there with the top of his achievements,” he said. “I vividly remember Vintage Tipple winning, I was actually at a hunter trial in Stradbally and I was listening to it on the radio with my cousin, Emmet.”
Lope De Lilas has it to do to figure in this and Patrick Mullins is under no illusions as to the size of the task in hand. “It is obviously a big ask coming straight out of maiden company into a Group 1 Classic, but that is the route we have decided to take,” he added. “She's had a fantastic preparation at home.”
Wathnan's European racing adviser Richard Brown added, “I'm sure she has a bright future, but whether she is going to be streetwise or not on Saturday, we will find out. Willie does exceptionally well with the runners he does have on the Flat and is obviously a world-class trainer, so it is exciting to be doing this with him.”
Johnny Murtagh said no to this race for Hanalia (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) immediately after her win in the Listed Naas Oaks Trial last month, so it is interesting that she is here to attempt to continue The Aga Khan's momentum this year. The Aga Khan's Irish Studs manager Pat Downes explained the change of tack. “Johnny has been very pleased with Hanalia since she won the Oaks trial at Naas and unfortunately she wasn't in the Irish Oaks, so we had a discussion about it and he was keen to supplement her,” he said.
“We would have a question mark over the trip, but we hope that she will get it and if she does, we would expect her to run a nice race,” he added. “We did think Ezeliya would be lining up, but unfortunately that went out the window a couple of weeks ago. That's racing. I think it looks a competitive race, so hopefully Hanalia is in the mix there somewhere.”
Regional Battle Ensues at Newbury
Elsewhere on Saturday, Newbury's G3 Hackwood Stakes looks a strong renewal of the six-furlong test, with last year's G1 Haydock Sprint Cup hero Regional (GB) (Territories {Ire}) met by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's classy but accident-prone Elite Status (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) and Tony Bloom and Ian McAleavy's G1 Commonwealth Cup runner-up Lake Forest (GB) (No Nay Never). This is also the next port of call for Michelle Morris and Jan and Peter Hopper's TDN Rising Star Kind Of Blue (GB) (Blue Point {Ire}), who performed with such merit when fourth in the Commonwealth Cup on only his third career start and first in any type of black-type contest and whose relatives Deacon Blues (GB) (Compton Place {GB}) and The Tin Man (GB) (Equiano {Fr}) both won this for the James Fanshawe stable.
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