Lingfield victor Eternal Hope added to Oaks field

Godolphin’s Eternal Hope has been supplemented for the Betfred Oaks at Epsom on Friday, resulting in a possible maximum field of 15.

The Charlie Appleby-trained filly won the Lingfield Oaks Trial on the all-weather earlier this month, beating Aidan O’Brien’s Be Happy by a length and three-quarters.

That was just the third run of her career but having impressed Appleby in a piece of work on Saturday morning, the decision was made to pay the £30,000 supplementary fee.

Eternal Hope is to be supplemented for the @EpsomRacecourse Oaks after coming out of the @LingfieldPark Oaks Trial well and working well this morning🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/u9UsXl68hr

— Godolphin (@godolphin) May 27, 2023

The runner-up at Lingfield could take on Eternal Hope again as one of six potential runners for Ballydoyle.

Boogie Woogie, Jackie Oh, Red Riding Hood, Warm Heart and the ante-post favourite Savethelastdance – so impressive when winning the Cheshire Oaks on soft ground – make up the potential O’Brien team.

John Gosden, who along with O’Brien is responsible for the last nine winners of the race, now trains with son Thady and they appear to have a strong hand.

Pretty Polly winner Running Lion, the mount of Oisin Murphy, and Musidora heroine Soul Sister, who is set to be ridden by Frankie Dettori, comprise the Clarehaven challenge.

The fourth and fifth from the 1000 Guineas, Jack Channon’s Caernarfon and Charlie Johnston’s Dance In The Grass, could run in their second Classics while David Menuisier’s Heartache Tonight, beaten a little over a length in the Group One Prix Saint-Alary, is another contender.

Karl Burke’s Bright Diamond, Richard Hannon’s Maman Joon and Andrew Balding’s Sea Of Roses complete the list.

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