“It's going to be very exciting to see what she does do,” he added. “When you go up in distance there are a lot of different things that can happen. If you looked at her pedigree, you'd say 'definitely not soft ground', but she bends her knee a little bit and she rises her feet which helped her to handle it. It's going to be very interesting to see how she fares on totally different ground. She just kept accelerating at Chester and I think that makes it unusual, so we're looking forward to the Oaks the same as everyone else.”

O'Brien's Epsom record suggests the outsiders have to be taken seriously, especially with both the remaining entries having placed in pattern races. “Red Riding Hood will take her time, she has blinkers on her and she doesn't concentrate much when she gets to the front,” he continued. “Be Happy ran well at Lingfield and we were very happy with that run, the pace was a bit slower than we would have liked for her but we've been very happy with her since then.”

Not On Her Dance Card…
Wednesday's other notable withdrawal was Jaber Abdullah's Dance In The Grass (GB) (Cracksman {GB}) from the Charlie Johnston stable, leaving the opposition to Savethelastdance headed by Lady Bamford's G3 Musidora S. winner Soul Sister (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) who has drawn the “lucky” stall 10 as Frankie Dettori's final Oaks ride. Fellow John and Thady Gosden-trained Running Lion (GB) (Roaring Lion) is in the largely-unfavourable stall two, with the inside draw considered a major hindrance even allowing for the recent Epsom performances of Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

Quality Quintet For Coronation Cup…
Friday's G1 Dahlbury Coronation Cup looks a high-class affair, with the quintet including Juddmonte's G1 Irish Derby hero Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and the fellow group 1 winners Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). Aidan O'Brien looks to TDN Rising Star Point Lonsdale (Ire) (Australia {GB}), who has captured the G3 Alleged S. and G2 Huxley S. in two 4-year-old starts. “We think a mile and a half will suit him well and we knew a mile and a quarter would be tight for him around Chester last time, but we wanted to run him there to try and sharpen him up,” he explained. “He went there to learn about going quicker on a left-handed track and we think it worked. From day one, he's looked like a horse who's crying out to go this kind of a trip.”

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First Dance

What the May Hill always needs is an unbeaten filly apparently on the march to the Classics and Jaber Abdullah's Dance In The Grass (GB) (Cracksman {GB}) fits the bill, having mastered the subsequent G3 Prestige S. winner Fairy Cross (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in Sandown's Listed Star S. July 21. The likes of Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) took this with similar profiles in recent times and this test will tell us which way the Charlie and Mark Johnston trainee will go. One who comes from the other end of the experience spectrum is the Tom Clover-trained Crystallium (GB) (Expert Eye {GB}), a granddaughter of the Lloyd-Webber's G1 Fillies' Mile heroine Crystal Music (Nureyev) who impressed on her winning debut over seven at Chelmsford Aug. 25. Bought for a mere 22,000gns at the Book 2 Sale, she was unsold at 28,000gns at the Craven Breeze-Up but has obviously made giant strides in the interim. “She is an exciting prospect and has shaped up well in her work at home,” Clover said. “I wouldn't run her on quick ground and I wouldn't run her on heavy ground, but I think she'll be fine on ground in between.” Also on the card is the £300,000 Weatherbys Scientific £300,000 2-Y-O S., where Amo Racing Limited's exciting filly Magical Sunset (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) is in action having beaten the subsequent TDN Rising Star Sakheer (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) in what could turn out to be an important Windsor maiden Aug. 15.

Success Breeds Success

It has been another mixed week for Shadwell, but few among Sheikha Hissa's organisation have any reason to complain about their overall racing fates in 2022 and the Park Hill sees another great opportunity for the blue-and-white. Last year's G1 Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares S. heroine Eshaada (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) is back on her favoured easier ground again with another potentially profitable autumn ahead and holds a distinct class edge over all her exposed rivals here. The exception could be Woodford Thoroughbreds' 3-year-old filly River Of Stars (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), an unknown quantity who put the Belmont Gold Cup winner Loft (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) in his place in the Aug. 20 Listed Chester S.

Welcome Back

   For all that the current flat campaign can safely be categorised as above-average, the one star it has been missing all along is Godolphin's 2021 Derby and King George hero Adayar. Doncaster's 10-furlong Hilton Garden Inn Doncaster Conditions S. is the stage for his keenly-anticipated comeback, not the Coronation Cup or Prince of Wales's or King George as was expected at varying stages of the season, but for those who revelled in his barnstorming performances last summer it matters little. The fact is, the one horse who could light up the autumn like none other than Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is here and under race conditions once again. There is still time for the imposing bay to make a serious impact this year and this is more about how he goes through the race rather than whether he has the class to easily dispose of Mick and Janice Mariscotti's often-disappointing Derby fourth Masekela (Ire) (El Kabeir). Sir Henry Cecil brought a low-on-confidence Twice Over (GB) (Observatory) here in 2009 and two starts later he was winning the Champion S., so that is welcome precedent.

Making Waves At ParisLongchamp

At ParisLongchamp, the G3 Prix d'Aumale sees the Wertheimers' TDN Rising Star Left Sea (GB) (Frankel {GB}) meet some intriguing rivals but the manner of the performance of the Carlos Laffon-Parias-trained daughter of Left Hand (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) on her Deauville debut Aug. 18 suggests she has nothing to fear. In the G3 Prix des Chenes, Ballydoyle make another rare foray to one of France's lesser-contested juvenile contests with the stable even more replete than usual with potential Classic contenders. The Aug. 15 Dundalk maiden winner Adelaide River (Ire) (Australia {GB}) from the family of Uncle Mo is the chosen one and he is joined by compatriot Pivotal Trigger (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), Yuesheng Zhang's Jessica Harrington-trained son of the G1 Prix Royal-Oak and Park Hill winner Allegretto (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who took an always-competitive Galway maiden July 25.

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“It was Plan Z as she missed the break and was a lot further back than intended, but I was impressed as she had to make a lot of ground up,” said Charlie Johnston. “Because she made such a big effort I thought she was going to pay for that in the last 150 yards, but she managed to find even more so it was impressive. She's by Cracksman so you wouldn't expect her to be doing this already and, even though it's a small sample size, the Cracksmans are making an impression. We've got three, two have won and the other will be out soon. She's in the [G2] Debutante and [G1] Moyglare in Ireland and I suspect her next run will either be the Moyglare or the [G2] May Hill at Doncaster. Those look the two best options for her. They are in September which is a far way away, but if anything you'd think she would improve for going [up to] a mile.”

Dance In The Grass, half-sister to a yearling colt by Ulysses (Ire) and a weanling colt by Too Darn Hot (GB), is the first of three foals produced by Listed Daisy Warwick S. third Dance The Dream (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}), herself a half-sister to G3 Dee S. placegetter Rasmy (GB) (Red Ransom) out of stakes-winning G1 Vodafone Oaks third Shadow Dancing (GB) (Unfuwain). Shadow Dancing is a daughter of Listed Cheshire Oaks victrix and G2 Park Hill S. runner-up Salchow (GB) (Niniski), herself a half-sister to G3 Chester Vase-winning sire Gulland (GB) (Unfuwain).

Thursday, Sandown, Britain
EUROPEAN BLOODSTOCK NEWS EBF STAR S.-Listed, £40,500, Sandown, 7-21, 2yo, f, 7fT, 1:30.16, g/f.
1–DANCE IN THE GRASS (GB), 128, f, 2, by Cracksman (GB)
1st Dam: Dance The Dream (GB) (SP-Eng), by Sir Percy (GB)
2nd Dam: Shadow Dancing (GB), by Unfuwain
3rd Dam: Salchow (GB), by Niniski
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. (57,000gns Ylg '21 TATOCT). O-Jaber Abdullah; B-Minster Stud & Mrs H Dalgety (GB); T-Charlie & Mark Johnston; J-Silvestre de Sousa. £22,968. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $34,261.
2–Fairy Cross (Ire), 128, f, 2, Dubawi (Ire)–Devonshire (Ire), by Fast Company (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O/B-Godolphin (IRE); T-Charlie Appleby. £8,708.
3–Lady Alara (Ire), 128, f, 2, Invincible Spirit (Ire)–Red Halo (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE. (€75,000 Wlg '20 GOFNOV; 110,000gns RNA Ylg '21 TATOCT). O-Alara Investments Ltd; B-High Rollers (IRE); T-Charles Hills. £4,358.
Margins: 3/4, 6, NK. Odds: 2.75, 3.00, 8.00.
Also Ran: Bet Me (Ire), Inanna (Ire), Mlle Chanel (GB), Ipanema Princess (Ire), Ibiza Love (Ire), Pure Gold (GB), Tagline (GB).

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