Epsom Oaks Runners: Twelve Fillies Set To Contest 2024 Friday Classic
All four iterations of the Guineas across England and Ireland went to British trainers, and so the home team at Epsom could well be in buoyant mood heading into Derby weekend. Before the Colts Classic on Saturday, there is the middle distance fillies only Classic The Oaks for us to enjoy and here we detail all the potential runners at this late stage...
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Wednesday marked the final declarations stage for the Oaks at Epsom and there were no major surprises, with the majority of the field standing their ground. Aidan O'Brien is in a rare spot this season, coming to Epsom without at least one Classic winner in his yard.
Nevertheless, The Oaks looks his best chance with YLANG YLANG heading his team and the market. This stunning Frankel filly ran what most would consider a perfect Oaks trial at Newmarket in the Guineas, staying on stylishly to finish in the places after being slightly out paced early on.
She is the right favourite, however this is a field with plenty of contenders and second favourite RUBIES ARE RED could be the one to give her stablemate the most to think about. She is still a maiden but has had excuses in all her runs, particularly when second in the Oaks trial at Lingfield a few weeks ago when she met trouble in running and looked the best horse on the day. Providing she can find a trouble free passage and gets rolling at the undulating Epsom, she should be bang in the mix.
EZELIYA comes next in the market and Dermot Weld looks to have another very smart filly on his hands here. In her three starts thus far - winning two - she has looked the type who will once again step up when going further in distance and the form of her two wins has already been franked. Ireland look dominant here and it'd be a shock were they not to claim The Oaks, but the British challenge is led by two Ralph Beckett runners in FOREST FAIRY and YOU GOT TO ME.
The first named won well at Chester in a trial and that proves she'll be fine at Epsom - as much as anything ever can - while the latter was perhaps the beneficiary of a good ride rather than outclassing her rivals in a Lingfield trial. Forest Fairy is almost certainly the stable first string.
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Last season's Musidora threw up the winner of the Oaks in Soul Sister, but this season's renewal did look a touch sub par and as such it is no surprise to see the 2024 Musidora winner SECRET SATIRE available to back at double figure odds.
She did well on the Knavesmire to win and Oisin Murphy gave her a cracking ride, but a host of the market leaders that day bombed out and thus the race felt a bit of a non-event in terms of a legitimate Oaks trial. Nevertheless, team Balding will be bullish heading to Epsom and the team insist she is being underestimated.
Godolphin don't look to have a particularly strong hand in this year's Oaks but DANCE SEQUENCE is surely better than her flop in the 1000 Guineas and could well reward those who keep the faith at Epsom if she is back on song. She had looked smart prior to that no-show at Newmarket when perhaps everything happened too quickly for her and is an interesting outsider.
Ralph Beckett sends three in total for the race and his least likely winner according to odds compilers is TREASURE, who was fourth but not disgraced behind You Got To Me last time at Lingfield. Obviously sometimes horses improve faster than others or appreciate another track more than a rival, but there were no form reasons why she should turn that form around.
CAUGHT U LOOKING, WAR CHIMES, MAKING DREAMS and SEAWARD complete the field.
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Full List Of 2024 Oaks Runners
- Caught U Looking
- Dance Sequence
- Ezeliya
- Forest Fairy
- Making Dreams
- Rubies Are Red
- Seaward
- Secret Satire
- Treasure
- War Chimes
- Ylang Ylang
- You Got To Me