Make Way

Her Epsom tour de force marked her as one of the best Oaks winners of recent times and only an act of nature seems likely to deny Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) a Classic double as she lines up for the G1 Darley Irish Oaks at The Curragh on Saturday. Early indications suggest she would be one of the favourites for the Arc and she should be able to brush aside nine opponents she is upwards of 10 pounds superior to on official ratings. If she is in the same mood as when she annihilated Rhododendron (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Alluringly (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in the June 2 highlight, Khalid Abdullah's homebred should make light work of emulating recent stars Snow Fairy (Ire) (Intikhab) and Sariska (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) in completing the brace of Oaks. “It's all been very straightforward since Epsom and she has had a good preparation, which you must have before any big race,” the owner-breeder's racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe said. “We've been very pleased with her and are looking forward to running her again. I have to say we were very pleased with the way she came back from Epsom. When they set a race record, you know they are going to have had a hard race and they went break-neck speed throughout.” Trainer John Gosden added, “She's in great form. She's worked nicely at the end of last week and cantered on Monday. We're happy with her. She won her [May 10 Listed] Cheshire Oaks in great style from Alluringly. We were expecting a huge run in the Oaks and got one. She's by Nathaniel and he got better with age. She's a scopey, rangy filly and learning all the time. She's not had a lot of racing.”

Gosden also saddles 'TDN Rising Star' Coronet (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) from Prince Faisal Salman's Denford Stud and although she was only fifth and well adrift at Epsom, she overcame a cast of talented fillies when winning the G2 Ribblesdale S. at Royal Ascot June 22. If her Epsom effort comes down purely to the vagaries of the track, the homebred brings a smart profile to the race and will be even better suited to this terrain than she was at Ascot. “She got into a muddle at Epsom and didn't handle the hill,” her trainer commented. “She would have been an unlucky loser of the Ribblesdale. She was checked in the straight and still got out and won. She's a filly who stays every inch.”

If there is one thing that recent history has taught us, it is that Aidan O'Brien's Epsom failures can make remarkable turn-arounds back in Kildare and just 12 months ago Seventh Heaven (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) bounced back from a 33-length drubbing in the Oaks to win this with authority. Although she was second in the Cheshire Oaks and third at Epsom, Alluringly has since been sixth in the Ribblesdale and it is hard to make a serious case for her upstaging Enable at the third attempt. Ryan Moore is on the July 2 G1 Pretty Polly S. runner-up Rain Goddess (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and her stamina has to be taken on trust. “Alluringly is in good form. She ran a bit disappointing in Ascot and we're not sure the reason why, but she seems to be in good form since,” Aidan O'Brien said. “It's a step up to a mile and a half for the other filly and we're not sure about that. She seemed to get the mile and a quarter okay at the Curragh last time, so we'll find out a lot more about her, but we couldn't be sure about the mile and a half.”

Up to a mile and a half for the first time, Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez's Intricately (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) bids to arrest a run of disappointing efforts since winning the G1 Moyglare Stud S. here in September and alongside His Highness The Aga Khan's G3 C.L. & M.F. Weld Park S. scorer Eziyra (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) has the potential to make the placings. After an inconclusive effort at Royal Ascot when her saddle slipped and she ended up last of 12 in the Ribblesdale, Newtown Anner Stud Farm Ltd's Naughty Or Nice (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) is hard to weigh up but John Oxx retains belief in the May 20 Listed Yeats S. winner. “Her first two runs were promising and the form has worked out quite well,” he said. “She had a bit of a disaster when she ran at Royal Ascot. We didn't find out anything about her. On ratings she has quite a bit to find with Enable, obviously, but after Enable, who looks outstanding, the rest of them are much of a muchness, I suppose. You'd be hard pressed to pick the second-best filly at the moment and I think it's an open race apart from the favourite.”