A 14-runner field in Saturday’s Juddmonte Irish Oaks is the biggest since 2010 for a €500,000 Curragh classic crammed with potential landmark outcomes.
Perhaps the most intriguing is Willie Mullins’ attempt to secure classic glory with his lightly-raced filly Lope De Lilas who carries the increasingly influential Wathnan Racing colours of the Emir of Qatar for the first time.
Jump racing’s dominant figure takes on his flat equivalent, Aidan O’Brien, who has three chances to extend his record Oaks tally to eight.
Johnny Murtagh still holds the most Irish Oaks victories for a jockey (six) and tries to win for the first time as a trainer with the Aga Khan’s Hanalia, supplemented earlier this week for €50,000. Also supplemented was Lava Stream, one of a trio of cross-channel raiders, while French-based Cork man Gavin Hernon has a shot at a first classic success through Dare To Dream.
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All of it underlines an unusually wide open renewal of a race lacking the retired Epsom Oaks heroine Ezeliya but consequently presenting a rare opportunity for such a prestigious success. Maybe it ultimately will be won by a favourite for the fourth year in a row, but the field size suggests plenty are prepared to bet otherwise.
Ryan Moore’s decision to side with Content rather than the Ribblesdale winner Port Fairy saw the O’Brien pair “flip-flop” at the top of the ante-post betting. Content goes into the race officially top rated at a relatively low 109 although she could cement her place in racing history with aplomb if emerging on top.
Her legendary 12-time champion sire Galileo, who died in 2021, has been stuck on 99 individual career Group One winners for some time, frustratingly shy of a remarkable century. Three of his daughters line up in the Oaks, and with his small final crop of 13 two-year-olds competing this year the clock is ticking on the chances of such a milestone moment.
Galileo has sired four Irish Oaks winners over the years, and Content has shaped as a potential top-notcher since her juvenile days. A third to Bluestocking in the Prety Polly didn’t quash those hopes, although the mile and a half trip is a new test.
Wayne Lordan steps in for Port Fairy who beat Lava Stream at Ascot, a result that didn’t dissuade the latter’s camp from splashing out to take her on again.
A weather outlook predicting up to 13ml of overnight rainfall could result in easier ground conditions than anticipated, which should be no problem to Colin Keane’s mount Caught U Looking. She was fifth at Epsom behind You Got To Me and War Chimes, where the latter belied 50/1 odds by finishing third.
Veteran local rider Seamus Heffernan, an Oaks winner with Seventh Heaven in 2016, comes in for the ride on a filly who ran on notably well at Epsom despite having run too keen, getting forced wide, and somehow hanging right up the camber. The Curragh should suit better and softer going won’t be an issue for a filly whose trainer David Menuisier was runner-up in last month’s Irish Derby with Sunway.
The following Group Two Comer Group Curragh Cup will supply its own intrigue, and not just through another high-powered Mullins-O’Brien clash. The race sponsor, Luke Comer, will have his colours carried by two outsiders Seattle Creek and Aircraft Carrier, who are now trained by the billionaire businessman’s son Luke W Comer.
Comer Snr’s three-year suspension of his training license on the back of doping offences began on Monday. There has been inevitable speculation as to plans for the sizeable string at his Kiltiernan, Co Dublin, yard. Luke Comer’s restricted licence means he can train no more than four horses in each code.
Neither Comer runner shapes as troubling the race principals and ground conditions could help Mullins’s runner Vauban much more than Tower Of London. The pair clashed at York in May where Vauban did best prior to a gallant Gold Cup effort at Royal Ascot where he patently failed to stay.
Sunday’s Curragh programme is highlighted by the Group Two Romanised Minstrel Stakes where Mountain Bear can build on a fine Jersey Stakes effort and secure a rare three-year-old victory in the seven-furlong contest.
In other news Horse Racing Ireland’s (HRI) chief executive Suzanne Eade said on Friday a 1.5 per cent drop in attendance figures for the first half of 2024 would have been avoided if there had not been such disruption to the fixture list in April in particular. Commenting on total attendance of 535,431 in the first six months of this year, the HRI boss pointed to bad weather in the spring and the need to reschedule fixtures as significant factors.
“Rescheduled fixtures do not attract the same crowd figures that might have attended on the original date. The drop in attendances in the first six months of the year would have been avoided if a number of those fixtures had gone ahead as planned,” she said.
HRI’s half-year statistics also saw a 2.5 per cent slide in horses in training to 8,394, while total on-course betting fell by 2.8 per cent to €35.1 million.
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