Cazoo Oaks

Following a quiet few days in the aftermath of Ascot and Chantilly, things get moving again on Saturday with The Curragh staging one of the most interesting renewals of the G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby for some time. A race that has from time to time in recent years been under the shadow of the European Pattern Committee's guillotine has pulled a trick out of the hat this year to ensure it keeps its exalted status for the immediate future at least. Aidan O'Brien has come to tick off...

What an excellent weekend of European Classics, which featured a sprinkling of some intriguing "what ifs" to flavor what's to come in the months ahead. On Friday, Aidan O'Brien won his 41st British Classic--yes, you read correctly--when Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}--Lillie Langtry {Ire}, by Danehill Dancer {Ire}) short-headed the unlucky John Gosden-trained Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) after an exhilarating face-off in the waning stages of the G1 Cazoo Oaks at Epsom. It was a familiar affair in more ways than one. The fillies are by champion half-brothers,...

It was a pretty quiet racing week here, so this installment of snippets is a little European-centric. We hope you find it interesting. The Mind Boggles... Tuesday's win in the G1 Cazoo Oaks at Epsom gave Aidan O'Brien a record 41st British Classic winner, including 10 wins in the Oaks. Tuesday was also the 94th Group 1 winner for her sire, Galileo and the second Oaks heroine and third Classic winner for her dam, Lillie Langtry (following Minding and Empress Josephine). Coolmore/Ballydoyle's stats never cease to amaze. Pletch Being Pletch......

They might be making history as the first husband and wife to ride against each other in a British Classic, but Tom Marquand and Hollie Doyle insist they "won't give each other an inch" when they go head to head in Friday's G1 Cazoo Oaks. The childhood sweethearts have been riding against each other since their pony racing days and tied the knot in Hertfordshire in March this year before jetting off to compete at the Dubai World Cup just a few days later. And while they encounter each other...

There are more than a few echoes of the past when it comes to G1 Cazoo Oaks contender Rogue Millennium (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). Bred by Shadwell, and trained from Kremlin House Stables in Newmarket, she will arrive at Epsom on the back of just two runs, both this season. Such a profile was no hindrance for the 2005 Oaks winner Eswarah (GB) (Unfuwain), trained for Sheikh Hamdan by Michael Jarvis. But while comparisons of yesteryear are understandable, Rogue Millennium, trained by the late Michael Jarvis's son-in-law Tom Clover, is a...

Hollie Doyle has described Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) as being "everything you want in a racehorse" ahead of her bid to become the first female rider to win a Classic when she partners John and Thady Goden's rapidly-improving filly in the Cazoo Oaks at Epsom on Friday.  Doyle is well used to breaking boundaries at this stage, with her tally of 152 winners in 2021 surpassing her own record of winners in a calendar year for a female jockey. She has also ridden two five-timers, became the first woman to...

Tom Clover enjoyed his greatest day on a racecourse when emerging star Rogue Millennium (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) advertised her Classic credentials when landing an Oaks Trial at Lingfield last month and now the trainer is looking forward to rolling the big dice at Epsom. A Shadwell castoff who was picked up for just 35,000gns at the Mares Sale at Tattersalls last December, Rogue Millennium has already proved to be one of the finds of the season, building on her debut success at Wetherby to run out a gritty winner of...

Richard Ryan knows a thing or two about Epsom, having spent many years there as assistant trainer to the late Terry Mills. He also knows a good deal about buying horses, with his apprenticeship served under the man who is generally considered a maestro in this field, Richard Galpin. These two strands in Ryan's bloodstock armoury have now entwined in the prospect of an Oaks runner for Teme Valley Racing, for which he is both buyer and racing manager.  Remarkably, Tranquil Lady (Ire) (Australia {GB}) is the second of two...

To an extent, when Coolmore wins two of the weekend's premier Classics in Europe and Godolphin wins another, it feels like we are harking back to the glory days around the turn of the century, when the battle of the superpowers was epitomised by those back-to-back duels between Galileo (Ire) and Fantastic Light in the 'King George' and Irish Champion Stakes. Honours even. And it was honours even at Epsom, with the dazzling victory of Ballydoyle's Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the Cazoo Oaks, followed by the satisfying success...

EPSOM, UK—It was an Oaks that delivered everything. An emphatic winner, bred in the purple, racing in the purple, representing a trio of the sport's most powerful owners for whom Epsom's famous winner's circle is almost a home from home.  It was also a record-breaking winning margin by a filly who reminded us just what a loss Deep Impact (Jpn) was, not just to Japan but to breeders worldwide, when he died at the age of 17 in 2019. Next month, a handful of his final small crop of yearlings...

George Boughey, one of the rising stars of the Newmarket training ranks, is set to be represented by a first Classic runner after listed Pretty Polly S. winner Mystery Angel (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}) was supplemented for Friday's G1 Cazoo Oaks at a cost of £22,500. Owned by the Nick Bradley Racing syndicate, which has already had a Classic place-getter this season in Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}), Mystery Angel was last seen running fourth to Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G3 Tattersalls Musidora S. at York. The...

Twenty years ago, Aidan O'Brien won the Derby for the first of his record eight times with Galileo (Ire), whose son Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) is currently ante-post favourite for the Cazooo Derby on June 5. The Ballydoyle trainer also has the favourite for the Cazoo Oaks, Santa Barbara (Ire), who is by another of his Derby winners, Camelot (GB). Issuing an update on the G3 Ballysax S. winner Bolshoi Ballet, O'Brien said, "I am very happy with him, everything has gone well so far. He is a very well-balanced horse....