Tag Archive for: Minnie Hauk

Monday Musings: Daryz Makes it the Aga’s Arc

/in /by

Ten furlongs (and a little bit) on fast ground at York is a world away from a mile and a half in very soft going at Longchamp in October, writes Tony Stafford. Run in a fast time – yesterday’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe was the only race among a string of Group 1’s to better the standard – identifies it as a very good version of the race, certainly as far as the first two home were concerned.

The going might explain in part Daryz’s elevation from last of six as a 14/1 shot at York to winning the Arc at slightly bigger odds. In doing so, he collected more than £2 million for the Aga Khan studs. Sadly, Prince Karim, who died in early February this year, never lived to see his colt, a son of champion 2,000 Guineas, Derby and Arc winner Sea The Stars on the racetrack.

https://youtu.be/poLX14qVTA8?si=6MWEOQdjr4vIwOfK

Daryz only made his debut in early April and trainer Francis-Henri Graffard guided him gently through the grades before York, via two conditions events, then a Listed race and a Group 2, before sending him overseas for the first time.

There was an obvious feeling of shock when he flopped in the Juddmonte, but Daryz restored confidence with a narrow defeat in the Group 3 Prix du Prince d’Orange over ten furlongs of Sunday’s course three weeks ago. Just a neck behind Japan’s Croix Du Nord, his was very much a try-out for yesterday, and the form turnaround – 11 lengths – was a stark reminder of how the top French trainers have always used the racing calendar to their advantage.

Daryz would undoubtedly have been at much shorter odds bar the flood of money on the Pari-Mutuel for the three Japanese runners. Two, Croix Du Nord and Alohi Alii, were out with the washing in 14th and 16th of the 17 starters, while Byzantine Dream, supported down to 7/1 second favourite, could do no better than fifth.

So far, we haven’t mentioned the favourite, unreasonably so as Minnie Hauk ran an astounding race, beaten only a neck by the Mickael Barzalona-ridden winner having been in the front four throughout. When Christophe Soumillon took her to the front, it looked like being a Coolmore/Aidan O’Brien treble on the day, but Daryz proved just too strong.

As the colt and filly fought out the finish, it was admirable that they stretched more than five lengths ahead of their field. With such as the Juddmonte one/two Ombudsman and Delacroix absent, as well as unqualified-by-the-conditions star geldings including Calandagan and Goliath, it wasn’t the race of earlier vintages when EVERYTHING used to turn up.

Having been a fan of racing well before Sea Bird II’s 1965 Derby and Arc demolition jobs, I’ll never forget his day in Paris when he cantered over such as Reliance, Diatome and further back the top-class American colt Tom Rolfe.

Big money is to be earned with less sweat for connections and horses alike these days, though, and no doubt the Japanese will be regretting putting so much energy into their continuing luckless quest to win the race. They do far better on Dubai World Cup Day and yesterday’s valiant trio should be ready in time for that.

As the records describe him, Aga Khan IV won the race four times between 1982 and 2008 with Akiyda, Derby winner Sinndar, Dalakhani and the brilliant mare Zarkava.

His father, Prince Aly Khan, married to the actress Rita Hayworth and destined to an early passing via a fatal car crash, enjoyed success in 1959 with Saint Crespin. And his father, Aga Khan III, won the race which was founded in 1920 with Migoli in 1948 and Nuccio four years later.

Talking about the Arc soon afterwards Barzalona explained how he needed to make the most of his good draw. Soumillon on Minnie Hauk (drawn 1) was fast away and Barzalona slotted the winner, exiting stall two, in just handy. It’s always seemed weird to me that over longer distances it happens, but the draw did make a big difference in this race. The highest drawn of the first four home was Marco Botti’s Giavellotto, (drawn five) just behind third-placed Sosie (stall three) in fourth.

You would imagine that the winner, unraced at two, would have plenty to gain from staying in training, and might be aimed at a rare Arc double next year. I would love to see Minnie Hauk, a daughter of Frankel, continue too. One obvious stud route for her was closed when Wootton Bassett came to his untimely end in Australia last month.

It seems a date next month at the Breeders’ Cup has not been ruled out. Yesterday was only her fifth race of the year and seventh in all, so she has hardly been over raced. I’m pretty sure the ever-combative owners would be all for it.

Incidentally, Wootton Bassett had two winners on the Sunday card, both from mares by Galileo. Having already picked up the Qatar Prix Marcel Bousac with Diamond Necklace, O’Brien, Soumillon and the Coolmore partners added the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere for two-year-old colts with Puerto Rico.

Last weekend at Newmarket, on remarking to Michael Tabor that True Love had done well to retain her form through a long season in winning the Cheveley Park Stakes, he replied, “That’s what Aidan does.”

He could have used the same phrase to describe the progress of the Lagardere winner. He was beaten twice in maidens; another couple of times in Curragh Group 2 races before finishing 4th in the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes (Group 1) a couple of places behind True Love.

He broke his maiden at the sixth time of asking at Doncaster last month and improved again markedly on that with an all-the-way emphatic success here. Last year’s winner of the race, stable-companion Camille Pissarro, went on to victory in this year’s Prix du Jockey Club and was retired after getting injured when 4th to another stablemate, Delacroix, in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes.

The second win from that Wootton Bassett-Galileo nick was the Christopher Head-trained Maranoa Charlie in the Prix de la Foret. The three-year-old had been extremely unlucky when third at York and showed his true colours here.

There had been a few mutterings that Soumillon’s spell as temporary replacement for Ryan Moore had not been a success, but the contra view was that he would come into his own on the French tracks. His masterful judgment of pace coming from the back on Diamond Necklace was a typical French ride from the Yves Saint-Martin era, never getting involved until coming with a smooth run down the outside. Those 8/1 odds for Newmarket next spring might shrink a fair bit over the winter.

Unusually, yesterday wasn’t a great day for UK trainers, who drew a blank. One who did play a part in a piece of racing history, however, was Amy Murphy. Now happily settled in Chantilly, she had been among the back-up team behind Asfoora’s first ever win for an Australian-trained horse in France.

Asfoora’s trainer Henry Dwyer was rather sheepish as he related how if it hadn’t been for Ms Murphy and a very quick Uber driver, the mare would not have been allowed to race.

Instead of taking Asfoora’s passport to the track, he brought the one for a horse he’d bought at the Arqana Arc Eve sale on Saturday. Amy sorted the driver and the correct passport arrived with a minute and a half to spare.

It didn’t take Asfoora quite that long to beat her 16 rivals in the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp under a very confident Oisin Murphy. She came through to challenge outsider Jawwal in the last furlong, winning by a comfortable half-length in 56.39 sec. The seven-year-old isn’t regarded as the best sprinter in Australia but she’s more than good enough to beat the cream of Europe’s speed merchants.

It was sad that Peter Charalambous’s Apollo One found so much trouble in the six furlongs of Ascot’s John Guest Racing Bengough Stakes on Saturday, more than enough to prevent a follow-up from last year’s triumph. Stopped in his run repeatedly, he stretched out gamely to the line, making up several lengths in the last furlong, but missed out by a rapidly diminishing short head to Mick Appleby’s Annaf.

Winning group races is never easy, but this was one that slipped through his owner-trainer-breeder’s fingers. It made the difference of £30k and prevented the seven-year-old (that’s right, another one) from getting neatly onto career earnings of almost exactly half a million quid.  I’m sure it’s only delayed.

  • TS

Minnie Hauk charting direct path towards Arc

/in /by

Minnie Hauk looks set to chart a direct route to ParisLongchamp next month, with trainer Aidan O’Brien saying the multiple Oaks-winning filly is “on the Arc programme”.

The three-year-old is unbeaten in four starts this term, winning the Listed Cheshire Oaks on her seasonal bow before adding Classic glory at both Epsom and the Curragh, before securing a third Group One success in the Yorkshire Oaks last time out.

Minnie Hauk is as short as 5-1 with Unibet for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and while the filly will have to be supplemented for the October 5 contest, O’Brien has the French contest in his sights.

He said: “We haven’t seen the best of Minnie Hauk at all and you’re not going to see the best of her until the tempo is very strong all the way. Physically she’s getting bigger and stronger.

“We weren’t sure what she was and I thought we’d know this time but we still don’t know, she’s relentless. She’s on the Arc programme.

“The last day was lovely but we didn’t really find out because the second horse (Qilin Queen) pulled back off Wayne  (Lordan, on Garden Of Eden) a little so for half a furlong or a furlong she was in limbo land where we would have preferred if she was behind the pacemaker. But it might have been the best thing in the world because she had a very easy race.

“We think when she goes there she doesn’t do much, that’s the way she is at home. The Arc hopefully will be a strong run race and we’re going to find out. She looks very exiting and is still in the ‘could be anything’ category.”

O’Brien also raised the possibility of the filly’s owners Derrick Smith, John Magnier and Michael Tabor, opting to race on next term if this season finishes on a good note.

He added: “It’s possible she could be kept in training, the lads love racing them if everything is well.”

Minnie Hauk hits another winning note in Yorkshire Oaks

/in /by

Minnie Hauk completed an Oaks four-timer with a neat victory in the Pertemps Network Yorkshire Oaks.

One of two runners for Aidan O’Brien in the Group One feature, the daughter of Frankel came into the York Group One with Cheshire, English and Irish renewals on her CV this term and was ridden by Ryan Moore as the 8-15 favourite.

Her stablemate Garden Of Eden set the pace and David O’Meara’s Estrange did ensure the winner had a race, but the triumph was ultimately light work by three and a half lengths on the line.

O’Brien said: “She’s beautiful, she does everything right, she cruises, she’s a lovely mover and obviously the Arc and the Breeders’ Cup Turf, all those races are there for her.

Minnie Hauk adds the Yorkshire Oaks to her haul
Minnie Hauk adds the Yorkshire Oaks to her haul (PA)

“Ryan said the (Breeders’ Cup) Turf, so she’s obviously given him an unbelievable feel. Ryan gave her a class ride, he was very cool on her. She is classy and he gave her a very confident ride.

“It wasn’t going to be a Mickey Mouse race today, they were going to go an even gallop without going crazy. Ryan has always said the stronger the tempo, the better we’re going to see.

“She’s very exciting.”

O’Brien – who saw Delacroix and dual Derby winner Lambourn suffer defeat on Wednesday – went on: “We’ve always felt the better the race the better she’ll be.

“It was good for Ryan, he had a tough day yesterday and things didn’t work out but the professional that he is he didn’t flinch.

“It was a nicely-run race, even though there were only four in it, I think the second is a nice filly, isn’t she.

“She’s won well in the end our filly, she obviously stays very well and always finishes her race off well. She doesn’t kill herself getting there but she’s always finishing.

“She has to be close to the top of our pecking order for the Arc, she’s an improving filly at this time of year.

“She could go to the Breeders’ Cup Turf but also the Arc. Whirl could go with her.

“Whirl could go to the Vermeille or Irish Champion, but there’s a good chance Delacroix goes back to the Irish Champion and if John (Gosden) brings his horse (Ombudsman) it will be great.”

Queen Camilla with the connections of Minnie Hauk
Queen Camilla with the connections of Minnie Hauk (Richard Hauk/PA)

Co-owner Michael Tabor said: “I think she won very comfortably, she’s obviously very good and looking forward maybe she will run in the Arc or the Breeders’ Cup. Hopefully we can keep her in training as a four-year-old and enjoy her.

“There’s no secret to the success. First of all we have a very good trainer but we try to breed the best to the best as we all do, like Godolphin and Juddmonte. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

“Yesterday was not a disaster, but it was tough. It’s tough when you lose which is why you have to appreciate when you win because it is not easy.

“Minnie Hauk beat Whirl at Epsom and dare I say their next races will be the Arc and the Breeders’ Cup for one or the other and hopefully they’ll have good chances in those races.”

Minnie Hauk at concert pitch for Yorkshire Oaks date

/in /by

Minnie Hauk bids to win a fourth different Oaks in the Pertemps Network-sponsored Yorkshire version on Thursday.

Aidan O’Brien’s Frankel filly has been outstanding so far this season, collecting three successive Oaks titles starting with the Listed Cheshire contest, before adding Classic strikes in both the Epsom and Curragh editions.

Now she turns her attention to the Knavesmire, with only three rivals opting to take her on in the mile-and-a-half Group One – including Ribblesdale-winning stablemate Garden Of Eden.

“This was always the obvious place to bring Minnie Hauk after the Curragh and she seems in good form since then,” said O’Brien.

“The trip and ground are perfect for her and since the Irish Oaks everything has gone well with her.

“Garden Of Eden won the Ribblesdale and then we sent her for the German Oaks but that didn’t work out.

“She was drawn very badly and she just never really got into it, it never happened.”

Ed Walker’s Qilin Queen was eighth behind Minnie Hauk in the Oaks at Epsom, the only real blip in a consistent career thus far that includes a Group Two success in the Prix de Malleret at ParisLongchamp last time out.

“Qilin Queen is a lovely filly who has done nothing wrong in her career,” the trainer said.

“The Oaks was the only bad run in her career and I think you can put that down to the soft ground and she probably wasn’t that happy on the track.

“However, on top of the ground she’s really not put a foot wrong and we know she stays the trip well.

“She will have to step forward significantly to challenge this lot, but she’s entitled to.”

David O’Meara’s Estrange is the other British-trained entrant, a striking grey who has won both starts this season when taking the Lester Piggott Fillies’ Stakes and then the Lancashire Oaks.

She steps up to the top level, although connections are prepared to make a late call on her participation on the Knavesmire, eager to ensure an easier surface for the four-year-old.

“We’ll have a chat to connections tonight and see what they think,” said O’Meara at York on Wednesday.

“I walked it on Monday and I thought they had put plenty of water on and it felt good to soft. The (slow) times (today) could be a little bit of headwind affecting them as much as anything else but I thought they had watered very well.”

Estrange camp hoping for rain ahead of Yorkshire Oaks

/in /by

Rain will have to fall at York if Estrange is to challenge Aidan O’Brien’s dominance in Thursday’s Pertemps Network Yorkshire Oaks, with Minnie Hauk and Whirl among four contenders for the Ballydoyle handler.

Estrange is one of just two British-trained contenders alongside Ed Walker’s Qilin Queen, with the other quartet all trained by O’Brien.

Minnie Hauk appears O’Brien’s chief hope after completing the English-Irish Oaks double at Epsom and the Curragh. Whirl, a neck behind her stablemate at Epsom and a dual Group One winner since, is also in the potential line-up alongside Garden Of Eden and Bedtime Story.

Minnie Hauk (left) defeats stablemate Whirl in the Oaks at Epsom
Minnie Hauk (left) defeats stablemate Whirl in the Oaks at Epsom (David Davies/The Jockey Club)

Estrange, trained by David O’Meara for owner-breeders Cheveley Park Stud, progressed through the levels to take the Listed Gillies Fillies’ Stakes at Doncaster last year before returning to action this term to win both the Lester Piggott Stakes and the Lancashire Oaks at Haydock.

Her only defeat to date came on good to firm ground at Yarmouth last season and connections are hoping at least some rain falls over York as they look to chart a path to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp in October.

“It depends which forecast you look at, and I am probably guilty of looking at the one I want to look at rather than the one I don’t!” said Cheveley Park’s managing director Chris Richardson on the chance of rain at York.

“But she’s very well, a bit of ease in the ground would be helpful. She’s working well but this just happens to be a year of fast ground.

“We’re working back from the autumn so we will see how we go and how we plan from here on out.

“If she can’t run then there are some entries abroad we can look at, she’s in the Fillies & Mares (on Champions Day at Ascot) and obviously the Arc later in the year.”

Royal Fixation goes to post before the Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket
Royal Fixation goes to post before the Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket (Joe Giddens/PA)

Day two of the Ebor Festival kicks off with the Sky Bet Lowther Stakes, a Group Two event over six furlongs, for which 12 juvenile fillies have stood their ground.

Walker’s Royal Fixation, second by a neck to Venetian Sun in the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes, heads the market, while Ryan Moore is booked to ride Richard Hughes’ 12-length Haydock winner America Queen.

George Scott’s Princess Margaret runner-up Staya is in the mix, as are Tim Easterby’s ultra-consistent Argentine Tango and Brian Ellison’s Wor Faayth.

Minnie Hauk makes it a Classic double with battling Curragh victory

/in /by

It may have been more solid than spectacular, but Minnie Hauk eventually wore down Wemightakedlongway to avoid a shock and double her Classic tally in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks at the Curragh.

The Frankel filly got the better of stablemate and subsequent Pretty Polly Stakes winner Whirl when landing the Oaks at Epsom in early June and was a prohibitively-priced 2-11 favourite to follow up against six rivals in the Irish equivalent.

Settled in third for much of the mile-and-a-half contest, with fellow Aidan O’Brien-trained runner Island Hopping deployed in a pacesetting role and Oaks and Pretty Polly fourth Wemightakedlongway splitting the pair in second, Minnie Hauk was under pressure to close the gap with two furlongs to go.

Joseph O’Brien’s Wemightakedlongway proved a willing adversary, but the red-hot favourite eventually took her measure and passed the post a length and a quarter in front under Ryan Moore to give O’Brien his eighth Irish Oaks success.

“We thought we’d be sitting second and Dylan (Browne McMonagle, on Wemightakedlongway) got the second position, so Ryan had to make a decision, he was either going to sit second on Dylan’s inside, in behind Wayne (Lordan, on Island Hopping), or pull back out of it in a way that he wouldn’t have been boxed in,” said the Ballydoyle handler.

“Obviously that’s a decision Ryan had to make quickly and it was the right decision. It wasn’t over-fast. We knew Joseph’s filly was a good filly and Dylan gave her a very good ride.

“She (Minnie Hauk) is one of those fillies that you’re probably never going to see the best of until the tempo is very strong and very high. She cruises through her races.”

Minnie Hauk with jockey Ryan Moore after winning the Irish Oaks
Minnie Hauk with jockey Ryan Moore after winning the Irish Oaks (Niall Carson/PA)

Minnie Hauk is the 2-1 market leader for next month’s Yorkshire Oaks with Paddy Power, who also make her the 10-1 joint-favourite for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

O’Brien added: “The boss (John Magnier) asked Ryan where to go with her and he said to go to the Yorkshire Oaks. The boss said, ‘what about if we give her a break and train her for the Vermeille and give her a French Arc prep?’.

“All those things are open and we’ll see how she is. I think she can do either of those things, but if she’s going to the French trial she’d have to have a couple of easy weeks. Obviously if she’s going to York, she wouldn’t have those couple of easy weeks.

“She had a very easy race today, I’d say. The tempo wasn’t very strong so she should come out of it well. I’d imagine in the next week or so we’ll have a fair idea, but they are her two options.

“Looking at her she’d probably love York. She has a big stride and it’s a Flat track, too. Obviously the boss will decide with Derrick (Smith) and Michael (Tabor).”

Minnie Hauk has chance to join an illustrious roll of honour

/in /by

Epsom heroine Minnie Hauk is all the rage to provide Aidan O’Brien with an eighth victory in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks on Saturday.

Alexandrova (2006), Peeping Fawn (2007), Snowfall (2021) and Savethelastdance (2023) are among the Ballydoyle handler’s previous winners of the Curragh Classic and he is responsible for four of the six runners in this year’s renewal.

The undoubted star of the show is Minnie Hauk, who six weeks ago got the better of a thrilling Epsom Oaks duel with stablemate Whirl, a subsequent Group One winner in the Pretty Polly Stakes.

Speaking earlier this week, O’Brien said: “Minnie Hauk has been fine since Epsom, she had a little break and everything has been good since.”

The biggest threat to the odds-on favourite appears to be Joseph O’Brien’s s Wemightakedlongway, who was just over five lengths behind Minnie Hauk when fourth at Epsom and then looked a little outpaced when occupying the same finishing position in the Pretty Polly.

“We are looking forward to running Wemightakedlongway. There is some rain forecast and any rain that falls we think might help her chances,” said O’Brien junior.

Johnny Murtagh, who rode a record six Irish Oaks winners during his illustrious career in the saddle, is represented by Subsonic. The Lope De Vega filly remains a maiden after two starts, but was only half a length behind Minnie Hauk on her on her Leopardstown debut in October.

The field is completed by Fozzy Stack’s 85-rated outsider Bay Colony.

O’Brien eager to take on Hauk again with Wemightakedlongway

/in /by

Joseph O’Brien is keen to let Wemightakedlongway have another crack at red-hot Juddmonte Irish Oaks favourite Minnie Hauk at the Curragh on Saturday.

The pair met in a Cork maiden last October when Wemightakedlongway showed the benefit of her previous experience, beating Minnie Hauk on her debut by two and a half lengths.

Since then Wemightakedlongway has won one of her four outings, the Group Three Salsabil Stakes at Navan, while Minnie Hauk has so far emerged as the best of her generation, winning at Chester and following up in determined fashion in the Oaks at Epsom from stablemate Whirl.

The form of that race looks strong as Whirl has since beaten Kalpana in the Pretty Polly, a race in which Wemightakedlongway finished fourth.

“We are looking forward to running Wemightakedlongway,” the Piltown-based trainer said.

“There is some rain forecast and any rain that falls we think might help her chances in Saturday’s Juddmonte Irish Oaks.”

Minnie Hauk’s trainer Aidan O’Brien also runs Butterfly Wings, Island Hopping and Merrily, while the field is completed by Fozzy Stack’s Bay Colony and Johnny Murtagh’s Subsonic.

Minnie Hauk and Whirl rematch unlikely to happen this weekend

/in /by

Aidan O’Brien said it is unlikely that both Minnie Hauk and Whirl will run in Saturday’s Juddmonte Irish Oaks at the Curragh.

The two were among six O’Brien-trained fillies left in the Classic on Tuesday, with only three other stables possibly being represented.

Minnie Hauk, who got the better of a thrilling tussle with Whirl to win the Oaks at Epsom, is odds-on favourite with the bookmakers to double up this weekend.

The Frankel filly, who had won a trial at Chester prior to gaining Classic success, has been waiting for this, while Whirl has already franked the form by beating the year-older Kalpana in the Pretty Polly Stakes.

Bedtime Story, Butterfly Wings, Island Hopping and Merrily complete the Ballydoyle entry.

“They probably won’t both run, I’d imagine,” said O’Brien.

“We were thinking that Whirl and Bedtime Story might go for the Nassua Stakes at Goodwood over 10 furlongs.

“Whirl came back to a mile and a quarter last time in the Pretty Polly and she was happy over that distance.

“Minnie Hauk has been fine since Epsom, she had a little break and everything has been good since.”

Fozzy Stack’s Bay Colony, Johnny Murtagh’s Subsonic and Joseph O’Brien’s Wemightakedlongway are the other confirmations.

O’Brien also has four of the eight in the GAIN Railway Stakes, including Queen Mary winner True Love.

True Love won the Queen Mary and could take on the boys this week
True Love won the Queen Mary and could take on the boys this week (John Walton/PA)

She would be taking on the colts should she run this weekend.

“It’s very possible that she could go to the Railway,” said O’Brien.

First Approach, Flushing Meadows and Puerto Rico are his others, while Joseph O’Brien could run Green Sense.

Adrian Murray’s Power Blue and the Ger Lyons-trained Learntodoscover are also possibles.

George Baker’s Desert Cop, Mick and David Easterby’s in-form Canon’s House and Mick Appleby’s Kodi Lion are among 19 left in the Kwiff Supercharged Betting Scurry Handicap, for which Big Gossey tops the weights.

Minnie Hauk leads the way in Irish Oaks confirmations

/in /by

Minnie Hauk, who got the better of a thrilling tussle with her stable companion Whirl to win the Oaks at Epsom, will face a maximum of eight rivals when she aims to double up in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks at the Curragh on Saturday.

The Frankel filly, who had won a trial at Chester prior to gaining Classic success, has been waiting for this weekend while Whirl has already franked the form by beating the year-older Kalpana in the Pretty Polly Stakes.

Her trainer Aidan O’Brien has not been as dominant in the Irish Oaks as the Irish Derby, but he still holds the record for the most wins with seven, with Savethelastdance two years ago his most recent.

As ever, the main danger to the ante-post odds-on favourite could come from within Ballydoyle. Whirl has been left in, but O’Brien did suggest after she won the Pretty Polly that the big two would be kept apart.

Bedtime Story, Butterfly Wings, Island Hopping and Merrily complete the six-strong entry for the yard.

Fozzy Stack’s Bay Colony, Johnny Murtagh’s Subsonic and Joseph O’Brien’s Wemightakedlongway are the only other confirmations.

O’Brien also has four of the eight in the GAIN Railway Stakes, including Queen Mary winner True Love.

First Approach, Flushing Meadows and Puerto Rico are his others, while Joseph O’Brien could run Green Sense.

Adrian Murray’s Power Blue and the Ger Lyons-trained Learntodoscover are also possibles.

George Baker’s Desert Cop, Mick and David Easterby’s in-form Canon’s House and Mick Appleby’s Kodi Lion are among 19 left in the Kwiff Supercharged Betting Scurry Handicap, for which Big Gossey tops the weights.

Lake Victoria ruled out of Royal Ascot

/in /by

Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Lake Victoria has been ruled out of the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Undefeated in five juvenile starts last season, including Group One wins in the Moyglare Stud Stakes, the Cheveley Park and at the Breeders’ Cup, Aidan O’Brien’s filly was beaten into sixth place in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on her return to action but bounced back to her best in the Irish equivalent.

The daughter of Frankel was expected to be a major part of the Ballydoyle handler’s Ascot team next week, but owners Coolmore said in a post on X on Monday: “Lake Victoria will not run at Royal Ascot. She will have an easy few weeks and will return for a late summer/autumn campaign.”

The post also confirmed plans for Minnie Hauk and Whirl after the pair finished first and second in the Betfred Oaks at Epsom on Friday.

It read: “Epsom Oaks winner Minnie Hauk will target the Irish Oaks, while Whirl, who finished runner-up in the Epsom Oaks, will head for the Group One Pretty Polly Stakes.”