With nearly all the key trials for the Epsom Classics run, GG are taking a look to assess the big players in the current markets. Today, we start with Oaks, alongside Sky Bet’s fantastic new customer offer of £30 In Free Bets When You Place Any Bet.
Emily Upjohn 5/4
Sea The Stars is rapidly becoming established as a sire of true champions, with Crystal Ocean, Stradivarius and Baaeed all excelling in totally different divisions, but being immensely powerful in each.
That said, none of the form of EMILY UPJOHN’s half-siblings was anything fancy. However, the enormous filly has done all her talking on the track, establishing herself as a clear favourite ahead of the Oaks in two weeks time.
She would have been sleeping below many people’s radars before the start of this season, having only won a relatively low key Wolverhampton novice event last November. However, she has extended her unbeaten start to three after blistering successes at Sandown and York.
The latter came in the Group 3 Musidora Stakes at York, the same trial won by extraordinary Oaks heroine Snowfall last year. She beat a highly-regarded filly in Life Of Dreams that day. Her rangy stride may not be perfect for Epsom’s cambers, but if she can work up to full cry, then she is going to be very difficult to stop.
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Tuesday 4/1
Aidan O’Brien’s filly by Galileo looked in line for Epsom’s Classic above all others. It may not have been predicted that TUESDAY would go off second favourite for the 1000 Guineas.
However, after a 275-day break between her promising debut last June, she won in taking fashion over 1m at Naas in March. All of a sudden, with pre-race favourite Inspiral ruled out of the Newmarket fillies’ Classic, she was thrust right up the market. Frankie Dettori, in Inspiral’s absence, took the ride.
Perhaps it is no wonder she was well-found in the market as a full sister to the brilliant Minding. Her older sibling took both the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks and while Tuesday cannot manage that feat after finishing third at Newmarket, she may well be in line for compensation at Epsom.
Despite her price, however, it is worth throwing some caution. She is currently favourite for the Irish 1000 Guineas this Sunday, a race Minding somehow lost, but one another of her sisters, Empress Josephine, took last year. If she takes that route, it is just 12 days between the Curragh Classic and the Oaks.
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Nashwa 5/1
If you think NASHWA sounds like a Classic winner, it is probably because she does.
Add an “n” and you get the brilliant Derby winner of 1989. It is certainly within reason that Nashwa will follow suit, as she has produced a pair of very likeable performances on her two runs as a three-year-old.
She was beaten on her only start at two, but raced away with a Haydock novice event, with Hollie Doyle in total cruise control. She was made an odds-on favourite for Newbury’s Haras De Bouquetot Fillies’ Trial when stepped up in trip to 1m2f and duly delivered in good style.
She may not have been finishing off as strongly as stablemate Emily Upjohn, but once again Doyle only asked for the bare minimum from Nashwa to ensure her the victory. Frankel’s offspring have claimed an Epsom Classic in two of the last three seasons and Nashwa could easily prove up to the task.
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Another daughter of Frankel, WITH THE MOONLIGHT is a five-years younger sister to Dream Castle. If she can represent Godolphin’s colours with as much distinction as her Group 1-winning sibling, she will have done very well indeed.
Dream Castle was at his best at slightly further than 1m. That may well prove to stand in contrast with this filly, who bolted up in Newmarket’s Listed Pretty Polly Stakes over 1m2f. She kept on in the manner of a smart filly and though the runner-up was a 50/1 outsider, she was beaten 4¾ lengths with a further five back to the third.
That was a significant step up on her best effort from last term, when third on the Rowley Mile over the 1000 Guineas trip at Listed level. That manner of improvement may be ominous for her rivals given Charlie Appleby’s recent record in big races.
There may be a few questions asked about whether she will stay 1m4f, but not many more than any of the aforementioned fillies. She could prove a useful each-way bet.
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Concert Hall 10/1
Though Dubawi’s stud record lacks for many significant winners at Epsom, CONCERT HALL still has an eyecatching pedigree for the job.
She is a daughter of 2012 Oaks heroine Was. She, in turn, was a sister to both Douglas Macarthur and Amhran Na Bhfiann, who both ran well in the Derby. For what Concert Hall’s sire lacks in Epsom inspiration, her dam’s side more than makes up for.
Unlike Was, who claimed the Oaks on just her third career start, Concert Hall has been raced regularly by Aidan O’Brien. She won twice from her six starts as a juvenile, one of which came at Group 3 level, though she found three races above that tier too tough for her.
Starting out as a three-year-old, she proved a gutsy winner of Navan’s Listed Salsabil Stakes over 1m2f. If anything, she shaped as though further may have been needed and there could easily be more to come at Epsom.
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