Day two of York’s Ebor festival means the G1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks and few would bet against Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) prevailing in Thursday’s feature following her emphatic successes in the G1 1000 Guineas and G1 Epsom Oaks. With Enable going elsewhere to avoid handing Ballydoyle’s femme fatale weight-for-age, the chestnut who took the June 7 Newmarket and July 4 Epsom Classics by a cumulative margin of 13 1/2 lengths surely only needs a reproduction of the latter effort to see off four of her peers and one 4-year-old. With plenty of rain around in Yorkshire, there could be a question mark about her sheen of invincibility as on two occasions at two she was found out by easy ground. This will be a measurement of how much she actually has in hand on the rest of the distaff brigade.
“I suppose we were a bit unsure going into the Guineas, because we’d always viewed her as a middle-distance filly,” Aidan O’Brien commented. “We were obviously delighted with what she did at Newmarket and it all went well between then and the Oaks. Obviously, what she then went and did in the Oaks we were delighted with, and everything she has done between then and now has pleased us. Hopefully this is the start of her preparation for the start of the autumn. We’re looking forward to seeing her run.”
As much rain as possible is the key for Waverley Racing’s Manuela de Vega (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), who put the subsequent G2 Hardwicke S. winner Fanny Logan (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) to the sword in the G3 Pinnacle S. over an extended 11 furlongs at Haydock on June 7 before following up with a bloodless win in the G2 Lancashire Oaks back there on July 5. John Gosden saddles Anthony Oppenheimer’s June 16 G2 Ribblesdale S. winner Frankly Darling (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who looked unhappy on Epsom’s contours when a non-threatening third in the Oaks and will be much more at home on this terrain, and Juddmonte’s Franconia (GB) (Frankel {GB}).
Franconia beat the classy trio of Cabaletta (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), Chamade (GB) (Sepoy {Aus}) and Wonderful Tonight (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) in the 10-furlong Listed Abingdon Fillies’ S. at Newbury on June 13 before taking the Listed Lyric Fillies’ S. over the Juddmonte International trip here on July 26. “She hasn’t done much wrong in her couple of starts this year and she’s obviously won at the track, which is definitely a plus,” rider James Doyle said. “There’s plenty of upside to her. Obviously it’s going to be a tough race, with Love in there–she’s going to be a ridiculously short price, but quite rightly so I guess. Hopefully we go there with a nice chance.”
Craig Bernick’s One Voice (Ire) (Poet’s Voice {GB}) tries a mile and a half for the first time after winning the G3 Blue Wind S. at Leopardstown on June 21 and giving Fancy Blue (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) a scare when a neck second in Goodwood’s G1 Nassau S. on July 30. In between, she was a luckless fifth in The Curragh’s nine-furlong G2 Kilboy Estate S. on July 19 and she has yet to convince that she is crying out for this trip on ground which will be the slowest she has raced on.
“We were delighted with One Voice’s run in the Nassau and she came out of the race really well,” trainer Jessie Harrington said. “Fancy Blue had beaten my filly [Alpine Star] in the Prix de Diane and so we kind of had a bit of a line and we felt our filly would improve again for going up in trip, which she did. The time before, at The Curragh, it was one of those stupid things. She got into a pocket and couldn’t get out, so we put a line through that. She didn’t have a hard race and that’s why we went from there to Goodwood. She’s a filly that has improved all year and her pedigree suggests she should be even better over a mile and a half. I know it’s a big ask with Love in there, but you have to try.”
Opening the card is the G2 Sky Bet Lowther S. for the juvenile fillies over six furlongs, in which Cheveley Park Stud’s Sacred (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) is likely to start favourite having been laid out by William Haggas following her second to Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) in the five-furlong G2 Queen Mary S. at Royal Ascot on June 20. David Loughnane relies on Santosha (Ire) (Coulsty {Ire}), who followed her third in Newmarket’s G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. on July 10 with a gutsy win in Ascot’s G3 Princess Margaret S. on July 26. She is re-opposed by Hala Hala Hala (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), who has 3/4 of a length to make up having finished runner-up there. One of the more interesting unexposed types is Saeed bin Mohammed Al Qassimi’s July 29 Thirsk maiden winner Umm Kulthum (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) from the Richard Fahey stable which is one of the local yards to prioritise this meeting. While she needs to improve on the bare form of that five-furlong debut, she gave the impression she has talent to make an impact at black-type level.
Two-year-olds also get a chance to shine in the £180,000 Goffs UK Premier Yearling S. over six furlongs and it will be a surprise if Russell Jones’s Devious Company (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) cannot make his class tell having finished closest to two of the best of his generation seen so far. Having chased home Master of the Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in Newmarket’s G2 Superlative S. on July 11, he was also runner-up to Battleground (War Front) in the G2 Vintage S. at Goodwood on July 28. His main opposition appears to be the filly Happy Romance (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), who has already won one of these sales races having taken Newbury’s five-furlong Weatherbys Super Sprint S. on July 19, and the June 14 Doncaster maiden scorer Uncle Jumbo (GB) (Territories {Ire}). The aforementioned Lyric S. runner-up Gold Wand is one of the main protagonists for the Listed British EBF & Sir Henry Cecil Galtres S. over the Yorkshire Oaks trip.
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