Ireland’s champion trainers across both disciplines will clash at the Curragh this Saturday as Aidan O’Brien and Willie Mullins get set to saddle leading contenders in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks.
Champion flat trainer O’Brien will go in search of a eighth Juddmonte Irish Oaks success with Ribblesdale Stakes winner Port Fairy heading the line-up alongside the Mullins-trained Lope De Lilas who will represent the champion jumps trainer.
In the biggest Juddmonte Irish Oaks field since 2010, Port Fairy will be joined by stable companions Content and Rubies Are Red, while the Mullins-trained Lope De Lilas will be ridden by James Doyle, the retained rider of her new owners Wathnan Racing.
Mullins is no stranger to big race success on the flat and already has an Irish Classic on his bulging portfolio of winners courtesy of Wicklow Brave’s 2016 Irish St Leger triumph. However, engraving his name on the Juddmonte Irish Oaks roll of honour alongside his legendary father Paddy, who won the race with Vintage Tipple in 2003, would be a special moment for the entire Mullins family.
“It would mean a huge amount to Willie if he could emulate his father in winning a Juddmonte Irish Oaks and it would be up there with the top of his achievements,” Patrick Mullins, son and assistant to the champion trainer said. “James Doyle came over to ride her work at the Curragh on Tuesday and she worked very well and everyone was very happy.”
Mullins added: “It is obviously a big ask coming straight out of maiden company into a Group 1 Classic but that is the route we have decided to take. She had a fantastic preparation at home.
“Port Fairy is a Royal Ascot winner and she sets the standard but it is hugely exciting to be involved in a Classic. I vividly remember Vintage Tipple winning, I was actually at a Hunter Trial in Stradbally and I was listening to it on the radio with my cousin, Emmet. It’s a big ask but we are very happy going there so fingers and toes crossed.”
The clash of racehorse trainer titans is just one subplot to the Juddmonte Irish Oaks which will boast its biggest field of runners since the magnificent Snow Fairy won the 2010 edition.
A final field of 14 runners are declared for Saturday’s showcase race with three British trained runners attempting to emulate Snow Fairy and the six other winners that were prepared by English-based trainers since 2010.
David Menuisier sends over War Chimes who finished third in the English Oaks at Epsom at odds of 50/1 as Menuisier dreams of going one better than last month’s assault at an Irish Classic when Sunway finished second in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby. The David O’Meara-trained Lava Stream is one of two runners in the 14 strong field to be supplemented for the race.
Lava Stream finished second to Port Fairy in the Ribblesdale Stakes, while the Ralph Beckett-trained You Got To Me, who finished fourth on that occasion in Royal Ascot, is also declared.
The other supplemented runner in the field is the much more locally-trained Hanalia, who will make the short journey from Johnny Murtagh’s yard, while Dermot Weld’s Elizabeth Jane is another Curragh-trained runner looking for big race glory.
Further intrigue has been added to the race with Gavin Hernon confirming a French trained runner in the field. Hernon, a native of County Cork, is looking for the biggest day of his short training career when saddling Dare To Dream. Now based in Chantilly, Hernon returns to his native land with a really strong contender for the third Classic race of the Irish season as Dare To Dream looks to follow the path of 2005 winner Shawanda and 2013 heroine Chicquita who were both trained by the legendary Alain de Royer-Dupre.
The Noel Meade-trained Caught U Looking will look to step forward from her fifth place finish in the Epsom Oaks as will the Paddy Twomey’s Purple Lily who was fifth in the Irish 2,000 Guineas. The top class field is completed by the Joseph O’Brien-trained Galileo Dame and the Ger Lyons-trained Madam Celeste.
The Juddmonte Irish Oaks runs at 3.40pm on Saturday 20th July at the Curragh Racecourse.