Aidan O’Brien looks for repeat Musidora Stakes success with The Algarve

Trainer looking to add to his Oaks team on day one of the Dante meeting on Wednesday

Aidan O’Brien runs The Algarve in Wednesday’s Musidora Stakes at York. Photograph: Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images

Aidan O'Brien broke his duck in York's Tattersalls Musidora Stakes a year ago with the outstanding Snowfall and hopes to add to his latest Oaks team with The Algarve on Wednesday.

The sister to Group One winners Horatio Nelson and Van Gogh is one of four fillies taking on the warm order Emily Upjohn in the feature race on day one of the Dante meeting.

Emily Upjohn is second best in the Oaks betting behind Tuesday and is odds-on to cement her Classic credentials in the Musidora.

However, Snowfall belied 14-1 odds in last year's Musidora to give O'Brien a first win in the race and that ill-fated star progressed to deliver a record-breaking 12 length display at Epsom a few weeks later.

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The Algarve, a daughter of the 2001 Oaks winner Imagine, won the third of her three starts as a two-year-old in Galway last October. She is currently a general 25-1 shot for Epsom.

O'Brien will rely on Bluegrass in Thursday's Dante, the last major trial for next month's Epsom Derby.

Bluegrass was fourth to Piz Badille in the Ballysax on his only start to date this season and faces a major task against eight opponents topped by Desert Crown.

The latter has been the medium of sustained ante-post Derby support and is a general 6-1 shot for Epsom despite having had only a single career start to date at Nottingham in November.

El Bodegon, a Group One winner in France last season over the current Epsom Derby favourite Stone Age, will also return to action in the Dante.

Ger Lyons's Thunder Kiss, an impressive winner of Cork's Noblesse Stakes last time, takes her chance in the Group Two Middleton Stakes at York on Thursday.

In the field, too, is Jessica Harrington’s Forbearance, also in the colours of Newton Anner Stud, who carried off the Princess Royal Stakes on her last cross-channel raid.

Harrington has made half a dozen declarations for Wednesday's local action in Gowran and Shaky Operator could prove the best of them in the first handicap.

A single-digit draw is often a plus around Gowran and Johnny Murtagh’s Miss Mirabell just about fills that criteria in a mile fillies maiden.

She was drawn higher on her course and distance debut last month and hardly helped her chance by being slowly away.

In the circumstances a running on fifth to Afogato was encouraging in the context of her latest assignment.

Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor is the racing correspondent of The Irish Times. He also writes the Tipping Point column