If you'd told us at the start of the flat season that we'd be swaggering into this Epsom meeting with Aidan O'Brien having not won a 2024 Classic, we'd have laughed in your face. But the Irish juggernaut has been firing blanks on both sides of the Irish Sea in the Classics so far this year and will be hoping for a swift change of fortune. Yet he may well get it, as unsurprisingly he has the market leaders in both the Oaks and Derby. Today is Oaks Friday though and a day for the girls to take centre stage. Let's get into it.
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Betfred Oaks - 16:30
Given that Aiden O'Brien has won this race on 6 of the last 9 occasions, you'd be foolish not to focus initially on his duo of Ylang Ylang (13/8) and Rubies Are Red (8/1). The former finished strongly for a close 5th in the 1,000 Guineas over 1 mile and the camp are confident that the step up to 1m4f here will bring out the best in the Frankel filly. She's 2 from 2 on soft ground so any rain that falls is a plus and her Average Speed figure (58.64kmph) achieved in October last year is a standout in this field.
Rubies Are Red ran a solid race in an Oaks trial at Lingfield over this distance, finishing 2nd, so there are no stamina worries for her. She does, however, have work to do on Official Ratings, given she's only rated 97. For perspective, Ylang Ylang is top rated on 112 and next best is Dance Sequence (14/1) on 106. One to note, 9 out of the last 12 winners have been rated 102 or higher so Rubies Are Red has work to do - but these 3 year-olds are open to any amount of improvement.
Ralph Beckett has a strong hand in the race as he is represented by 4 of the runners, his seemingly most fancied is the sole unbeaten runner in the field, Forest Fairy (7/1). THM Average Speed analysis highlights both of her runs to be relatively slow, but she was racing in small fields and you can't really knock a filly who's unbeaten in both career starts and proven at the distance. You Got To Me (12/1) is another Beckett charge with claims and could be underestimated in the market given she beat Rubies Are Red in their clash earlier this month. She probably wouldn't want any more rain to arrive; but should she be a much bigger price than her reopposing rival?
We're not going to do all the work for you, but William Buick and Silvestre De Sousa do currently rule the roost on the THM Jockey stats at Epsom, both operating with course strike rates over 20%.
Set yourself up perfectly for the weekend by creating your own THM Custom View Racecards. Select the stats that are essential to you, create groupings and order them how you like. Easy!