A stellar list of fillies will congregate for the Group 1 Irish Oaks, which is the feature race at the Curragh on Saturday afternoon. Our in-house tipster Steve Chambers previews the events and expects Aidan O’Brien to claim a record-extending eighth victory in the race…
PORT FAIRY
(Wayne Lordan/Aidan O’Brien)
Second in the Cheshire Oaks at the start of the season, Port Fairy built on that run on the Roodee by landing a stunning victory in the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot. Showing a fine turn of foot that day to claim victory, the Aidan O’Brien-trained daughter of Australia will need to improve on that effort, but with only four runs on her CV then she’s entitled to be going on an upward curve. Well fancied for this contest, it’s interesting that stable jockey Ryan Moore has opted to partner Content and not her in this event.
Irish Oaks Trends – Fillies Classic Under the Microscope
Having first been run in the late 19th century, the Irish Oaks is cemented as a prestigious Group 1 in the 3yo filly calendar. Many runners and winners have come from the Epsom Oaks and plenty will head to the Yorkshire Oaks after, where they potentially face their elders. As for this season’s renewal, Dave…
Mon 08 Jul 2024CONTENT
(Ryan Moore/Aidan O’Brien)
A filly with a lot more experience from the O’Brien yard is Content, who has been lining up in Group 1 company this season, but she’s struggled to get her head in front. Eighth in the French 1000 Guineas, she then finished in the same position in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot. However, she put up her best run of the season in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh, as she chased home Bluestocking and Emily Upjohn. That is top notch form, but she was well beaten again that day, so it could be that she isn’t a Group 1 filly, so Ryan Moore may have made the wrong decision on what Ballydoyle runner to partner.
LOPE DE LILAS
(James Doyle/Willie Mullins)
An impressive two-and-a-quarter length winner at Leopardstown on only her second start, Lope De Lilas will need to take a huge step forward from that maiden success, but is a fascinating runner for Willie Mullins. Whilst we know what the two Aidan O’Brien runners at the head of the market can produce on the track, we know very little about the Lope De Vega filly for the Closutton team, so it will be eye-catching to see what the betting says in the lead-up to the race, as she certainly showed huge promise on the track so far.
THE FIELD
Gavin Hernon’s Dare To Dream is a notable French runner making the trip to Ireland and she heads into the race on the back of a decent fifth placed finish in the Group 1 Prix de Diane at Chantilly. Only beaten a neck by Port Fairy in the Ribblesdale Stakes, when sent off a big price, David O’Meara’s Lava Stream will be looking to reverse the form with the O’Brien raider, while You Got To Me and Rubies Are Red are another duo that were seen in the Ribblesdale that take their chance here. Third in the Oaks at Epsom Downs, David Menuisier’s War Chimes adds Classic form to this contest and she looks a lively each-way play, while Caught U Looking (5th in Oaks) and Galileo Dame add more depth to a competitive renewal.
VERDICT
A wide open renewal for the 2023 Irish Oaks, but it could be an eighth win in the race for Aidan O’Brien as his Royal Ascot heroine PORT FAIRY can show that her Ribblesdale Stakes win wasn’t lucky and she can prove she’s one of the premier middle-distance fillies in training. War Chimes has some smart form from Epsom in the book and she could well chase home Port Fairy, while Content can claim third place for a Ballydoyle 1-3.
2024 Irish Oaks Predicted 1-2-3
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