Betfred Oaks

Shapoor Mistry is no newcomer to breeding. He's been at the game for 40 years in his native India where he owns Manjri Farm and has won his home Derby on several occasions. But he described winning the Betfred Oaks with his homebred Thundering On as being "like a dream come true".  He said, "It's tough to win big races anywhere in the world and especially tough in England." That may be but Thundering On really didn't make it look tough at all as she motored down the home straight...

Unless Thundering On can oblige for Joseph O'Brien, or perhaps Venetian Lace for Charlie Johnston, then there will be a familar name on the trophy for the 2026 Betfred Oaks, with three trainers who each have previous in the Epsom Classic being responsible for the remaining seven runners between them. Aidan O'Brien is triple-handed in his quest for a remarkable 12th Oaks victory, likewise Ralph Beckett, who struck first with Look Here in 2008 and then Talent in 2013. More recently, O'Brien and the Gosdens have dominated, with all but...

Across the Epsom Downs the temporary structures that form the Betfred Derby backdrop are going up but of most importance on this sweltering morning is what's coming down the hill. Five Classic hopefuls have arrived for a taster of this most unusual of tracks, though one is back for take two. Balzac, third in the Blue Riband Trial here behind Saxon Street and Rebel Rocker, has subsequently had a spin around Lingfield too, but his trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam is taking no chances with her first Derby runner.  "I bought him...

If horse racing is your thing and you value the Derby above all other races, then there can be no finer way to spend a Monday morning in May than at the place which has had more influence on the great race than any other. Ballydoyle can be held up alongside any of the great sporting arenas such as Lord's, Murrayfield, Old Trafford, Fenway Park, the MCG. True, it's not where the competition actually takes place, but what happens on its fabled acres has long been of worldwide significance to...

With just a few pieces of the jigsaw still to be slotted into place this week at York, the Epsom picture has emerged a little more clearly over the past week or so through some key Derby and Oaks trials at Chester, Lingfield and Leopardstown. Most have been dominated by Aidan O'Brien, including a clean sweep of the five stakes races on the Roodee. So where better to start than at Ballydoyle on a fresh Monday morning with a trainer in a jovial mood after bagging his second Classic of...

Diamond Necklace (St Mark's Basilica) and Precise (Starspangledbanner), both Group 1-winning juveniles trained by Aidan O'Brien, headline 53 entries for the Betfred Oaks at Epsom on Friday, June 5. Unbeaten in three starts as a two-year-old, Diamond Necklace was last seen winning the Prix Marcel Boussac at ParisLongchamp, while Precise rattled off four straight victories as a two-year-old after being beaten on her debut at Fairyhouse, culminating with back-to-back Group 1 wins in the Moyglare Stud Stakes and Fillies' Mile. In total, O'Brien has entered 15 fillies in his quest...

The Betfred Derby will be run for prize-money of £2 million in 2026, making it the joint-richest race in Britain alongside the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. This £500,000 boost in purse from last year is just one of a raft of "significant changes" announced by the Jockey Club for Epsom's Betfred Derby Festival next June. The programme of reinvigoration, with investment of £6 million, includes Coolmore being announced as sponsor of the Coronation Cup, which will be run for £1 million - more than double its previous...

EPSOM DOWNS, UK -- It is impossible to think of the Coolmore operation without the name Sangster coming to mind and, not for the first time, a member of the clan has been instrumental in aiding Coolmore to Classic glory. The imperious Minnie Hauk reeled in and eventually - but only just - overhauled her front-running stable-mate Whirl to give Ben Sangster his second winner of the Oaks as breeder after Dancing Rain struck at Epsom back in 2011. For good measure, he also bred last year's Coronation Cup winner...

For so long now we have been used to the Galileo factor at Epsom, and while none of his final small crop of 13 has made the line-up for the Derby or the Oaks, we still find his name all over the place on the pages of this year's runners, merely starting to shuffle back a bit in the generation game.  Galileo's sons Frankel, Australia and Circus Maximus each have at least one runner in the Derby, and Frankel and Australia also have Oaks runners. Eight of the 19 Derby...

Cheshire Oaks heroine Minnie Hauk (Frankel) is the likely mount of Ryan Moore in the Betfred Oaks, according to trainer Aidan O'Brien, with the Ballydoyle team also set to call upon the services of Wayne Lordan and Colin Keane on a busy Classic weekend at Epsom. Speaking on a call hosted by the Jockey Club on Tuesday, O'Brien echoed his recent comments about Delacroix (Dubawi) being the horse most likely to have the benefit of Moore's assistance in Saturday's Betfred Derby, before clarifying the picture somewhat with regards the Oaks,...

Following Saturday's confirmation stage, Godolphin's 1,000 Guineas heroine Desert Flower (Night Of Thunder) is one of nine possible runners in Friday's Betfred Oaks at Epsom. Unbeaten in five career starts, culminating with a comfortable defeat of Flight and Simmering in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket, Desert Flower is the sponsor's 7/4 favourite to complete a Classic double at Epsom, a feat last achieved by the Aidan O'Brien-trained Love five years ago. O'Brien is responsible for three of the remaining nine contenders in Giselle (Frankel), the wide-margin winner of the Listed...

ROSEGREEN, Ireland -- It's that time of year again. The countdown to the Classics. Better than Christmas. And there are few better ways to indulge dreams of what may be about to unfold in the coming weeks than by annoying Aidan O'Brien for a morning at Ballydoyle. He must find it irksome, all these pesky journalists turning up, as surely as the first swallow of spring. But if he does, he hides it well, and almost seems to revel in sharing what he clearly finds the most rewarding part of...