Latest news with #Fillies'Classic
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Minnie Hauk lands the Betfred Oaks at Epsom
Minnie Hauk (9-2) won a thrilling battle with stable-mate Whirl (15-2) to give Aidan O'Brien an 11th victory in the Betfred Oaks at Epsom on Friday afternoon. Minnie Hauk – an impressive winner of the Listed Cheshire Oaks at last month's Boodles Chester May Festival – just got the better of her stable-mate in a thrilling battle to the line, scoring by a neck under stable jockey Ryan Moore with Godolphin's 1,000 Guineas heroine and 11-10 favourite Desert Flower four lengths back in third. Moore had the choice of O'Brien's three challengers in the Fillies' Classic – with Lingfield Oaks Trial winner Giselle, who eventually came home fifth, also entered. But he passed over her and the Musidora Stakes winner Whirl for the improving daughter of Frankel, Minnie Hauk, who had won for a second time in three career starts on the Roodee last month. Advertisement Under Moore, Minnie Hauk was sat a couple of lengths off the pace set by Whirl and Wayne Lordan. When Whirl kicked for home after the turn around Tattenham Corner, Moore moved Minnie Hauk closer to challenge. The two Ballydoyle fillies quickly went clear of their rivals and in a protracted battle all the way up the home straight, both gave their all but it was just Minnie Hauk who prevailed by a neck. READ MORE: Horse Power: The Lion In Winter to roar back with victory in the Betfred Derby at Epsom READ MORE: Jan Brueghel crowned a winner in the Coronation Cup at Epsom O'Brien is now closing on 19th century trainer Robert Robson's 13 victories in the Epsom Classic as Minnie Hauk followed the likes of his former Oaks scorers including Alexandrova, Minding, Love, Snowfall and his most recent victor Tuesday (2022) into the winner's enclosure. Having won a 30th Group One at the Derby Festival with Jan Brueghel's success in the Coronation Cup earlier in the day, Moore and O'Brien were again the men for the big occasion. Advertisement O'Brien said: 'I'm delighted with her; she's very classy and Ryan gave her a beautiful ride. He loved her the last day (at Chester) and then again today, so she's very exciting. She's obviously learning - she went to Chester and learnt a lot and was still green, and she was always improving from mid-race. What you love about her is that she's a great traveller; she has a lot of class. Ryan felt he was going very easily today on her and usually what that means is that she will be able to step up a couple of grades into even higher-class races. It's lovely for the lads and for everyone to have another filly like that. 'Colin [Keane] was delighted with his filly (Giselle, fifth); he said she's a bit of a baby and a bit weak, so she will improve. Whirl (second) ran a great race; she stays and obviously has a lot of class too. We were going to go forward if no one else wanted to. Ryan was going to go forward, and so was Wayne. Obviously Colin didn't want to go forward; his filly was too keen and we all knew that; he was going to try to get her to relax and see what would happen. I don't think it was too fast a pace. I'm delighted with the way it all went. 'Those Wootton Bassetts (Whirl's sire) – obviously they have speed but they also stay. Obviously she got a mile and a quarter at York by staying and we thought there was a chance she would get the mile and a half, but we weren't sure. Ryan said that he would have been happier going a bit faster in the first half of race, and usually the sign of a very classy filly, so that means she'll be very comfortable standing up against the older horses when the time comes. We'll see. I'm delighted for everyone. It's a big team and everyone plays their part – I'm just the observer, really, and it's the lads who, every year, keep these pedigrees going and make sure we have these horses to be able to work with.' Moore, who was wining a fifth Oaks, said: "She began well and travelled strong early and I just wanted to make sure I was in a position to do what I wanted when I wanted. She just travelled a bit too strong and fell asleep on me then after I asked her to relax. The filly in front is a good filly and kept building the whole way and I just had to ask my filly to go to her and she quickened up very smartly and got there easily. Whirl came back and my filly found a little bit more. I think she'll improve for the experience and as far as three-year-old fillies go she's very good. Advertisement "She'll be (going for the) Irish Oaks/Nassau Stakes, that sort of thing, and we'll go from there. She's a lightly-raced filly and should improve." Moore added: "I rode some exceptional fillies in this race, Love and Minding spring to mind and Snow Fairy as well. She's got a way to go, but she's open to any amount of improvement." Lordan, who rode runner-up Whirl, said: 'I've gone a nice gallop as we felt that she would stay. She was loving it out the front; she kept extending well. Ryan went a good half-length off me. I think both fillies were just coming to the end of their tether and having a bit of a roll around, but I felt we had been well held at the line. I couldn't fault my filly – she ran a stormer. She's a lovely filly and she tries hard. She's very straightforward, very uncomplicated and she shows you everything she has.' Charlie Appleby, trainer of the third-placed Desert Flower, said: 'It just looked like she got a bit unbalanced coming down the hill and hit a bit of a flat spot just at the point you don't want to, but take nothing away from the first two as they just kept galloping. We all think she got it [the trip] and personally I'd like to see her in something like the Yorkshire Oaks, on a nice galloping track. We'll give her a break now. Will just thought she'd be more comfortable on a sounder surface than she got today. She won on slow ground in the Fillies' Mile, but slow ground on a track like this might have been a consideration. Back on a more conventional track will hopefully be more her gig.' Advertisement Keane, who was on board fifth-placed Giselle, said: 'She ran okay. She was a little bit in my hands in the first half then settled as we went on. She feels like a filly who lengthens and gallops rather than quickens, but it was a nice run.' Jockey Jim Crowley said of seventh-placed Elwateen: 'She was disappointing. We were beaten turning in so we can't blame the trip. I had a lovely run round but it just didn't happen.' The David O'Meara-trained Mirsky (6-1) won the Trustatrader Handicap, under Oisin Murphy, by a comfortable length-and-a-quarter from Alpha Circus (8-1) with the winner's stable-mate Julia Augusta (40-1) a further three-quarters-of-a-length back third and Ebt's Guard (9-2) another neck adrift in fourth. The ex-French winner backed up a recent win at Thirsk and could now head to Royal Ascot for the Royal Hunt Cup. Trainer O'Meara said: 'He ran well a few times last year without winning, but we always felt he had something like this in him. It maybe took us a while to get the hang of him, but he's won his last two now, which is great. The Hunt Cup would be a possibility now. Julia Augusta ran well in third. She'd run well here last year in the Diomed but hadn't run before this season. Bopedro just found it a bit sharp here but was staying on in fifth, so they all ran well.' Winning rider Murphy added: 'That was good placing by David, who really fancied him today. I've ridden plenty of nice winners for him here and it was nice of him to put me up again.'
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Chester May Festival 2025: Minnie Hauk wins the Cheshire Oaks to book Epsom place
-Credit:Minnie Hauk (13-8 favourite) booked her place at Epsom with victory in the Listed Weatherbys ePassport Cheshire Oaks on day one of the 2025 Boodles Chester May Festival. Aidan O'Brien's three-year-old daughter of Frankel was making her third career start on the Roodee – a place the Ballydoyle handler likes to send his Epsom hopefuls as there are some similarities on the tight turning track. And she made it two wins from those three starts and is likely to head to Epsom for the Betfred Oaks on June 6. Minnie Hauk was cut to as low as 6-1 for the Fillies' Classic although William Hill were best-priced at 12-1. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Under Ryan Moore, Minnie Hauk travelled reasonably well off the pace set by Queen Of Thieves although she had to kept up to her work by the top jockey. After the turn for home in the extended 1m3f Listed contest, Moore moved Minnie Hauk to the front and as the leader faded the pack tried to close in. But Minnie Hauk stayed on well to score by a length from Andrew Balding's Secret Of Love (7-1) with Caspi Star (14-1) a further length-and-a-quarter back in third. READ MORE: Chester May Festival 2025 day two: Mount Kilimanjaro can win the Dee Stakes READ MORE: Chester May Festival 2025 day one: Lambourn can win the Chester Vase O'Brien was landing a record-extending ninth victory in the Cheshire Oaks and Minnie Hauk remains an improving filly who deserves a crack at the real thing at Epsom next month. None of O'Brien's previous Cheshire Oaks winners have also triumphed at Epsom with the last to do the double being John Gosden's mighty mare Enable in 2017, although the Ballydoyle handler's Forever Together scored in the Classic having been second on the Roodee the following year. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Paul Smith, son of Derrick Smith, part of the owners Coolmore triumvirate with Michael Tabor and John Magnier, said: "I think we'll be heading to Epsom after that, Aidan always thought she'd improve a lot for this run. She's a kind, uncomplicated filly with a great attitude and the step up in trip obviously helped, so we'll be looking at the Oaks I would think." He added: "Ryan was niggling a little on the way round but he said that was just to get her interested. She always responds to the jockey and that was what she did, she just kept finding. Aidan always says how much they learn by coming here, he picks the ones he thinks will come on the most. It's a unique track, they are so close to the crowd and they come on a ton, so he always likes to have them pointed towards here. We don't know if she's number one, we'll see how all the trials go in the next week or so, but she has to be in the mix." Jockey Moore, who was winning the Cheshire Oaks for a record seventh time, told ITV Racing: "I was very impressed with everything she's done there. It was her first run of the year and he only had the two runs late on last year. She was drawn wide, showed good speed to get a position and relaxed. She did everything nice and smoothly, was a bit green at first and I probably got there a bit too early but she showed a very good attitude in the straight. She's an uncomplicated filly with plenty of ability." Ali Shuffle (right), ridden by Sam James, on the way to winning the CAA Stellar Lily Agnes EBF Conditions Stakes on day of the 2025 Boodles May Festival at Chester Racecourse on Wednesday, May 7 2025 -Credit:PA Ali Shuffle (5-6 favourite) landed a knockout blow in the opener, the CAA Stellar Lily Agnes EBF Conditions Stakes. Karl Burke's two-year-old brought up a hat-trick of victories to potentially book a trip to next month's Royal Ascot. The speedy daughter of A'Ali had won both her starts so far, being prominent and scoring at Redcar and Beverley last month. And with the plum draw in stall one, under Sam James, Ali Shuffle broke well and led from start to finish for a comfortable success. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The unbeaten colt scored by a length from Exclamation (14-1) with Italica (40-1) a head back in third. Liverpool FC fan Burke said: " Redorange, ridden by Rossa Ryan (left), on the way to winning the Ladbrokes Best Odds Guaranteed On Racing Handicap on day one of the 2025 Boodles May Festival at Chester Racecourse on Wednesday, May 7 2025 -Credit:Nick Potts/PA Redorange (11-10 favourite) won the Ladbrokes Best Odds Guaranteed On Racing Handicap. Clive Cox's three-year-old was sent off the warm favourite following a fine return to action when third to Queen All Star at Sandown last month. With that run under his belt and from an advantageous draw in stall two Redorange broke well in the five-furlong contest. Sat just off the pace set by Ruby's Profit, under Rossa Ryan, Redorange moved to the outside of the leader after the turn for home before hitting the front. He stayed on well to score by a length from Ruby's Profit with Blinky (12-1) a length-and-three-quarters back in third.
BBC News
04-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Desert Flower seals Guineas double for Godolphin
Desert Flower won the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket to complete a dream weekend for owners William Buick, claiming his first victory in the Fillies' Classic, rode Charlie Appleby's evens favourite to victory from the Ollie Sangster pair of Flight and was a fifth successive win for the unbeaten Desert Flower and followed Ruling Court's 2,000 Guineas victory on Saturday for Buick and trainer Mohammed's Godolphin team also won the Kentucky Oaks with Good Cheer and the Kentucky Derby with Sovereignty. More to follow.
