John Ingles provides an overview of the key things to note on Friday.<\/p>\n
Three points of interest <\/strong><\/p>\n Calandagan to keep up French record in Coronation Cup<\/strong><\/p>\n Historically, French horses have a fine record in Epsom\u2019s Coronation Cup (14:40<\/a>), having won at least one edition of the race in every decade since the Second World War, at least until the 2020s. The Francis-Henri Graffard-trained gelding Calandagan<\/a><\/strong> has the task of maintaining that record, though he\u2019ll be only the second French raider since 2015, following Feed The Flame who finished third to Luxembourg last year. The last French-trained Coronation Cup winner was another gelding, the top-class Cirrus des Aigles in 2014, who got the better of compatriot Flintshire. The latter\u2019s trainer Andre Fabre was responsible for the other French-trained winner this century, Shirocco in 2006, bringing his total of wins to six.<\/p>\n Calandagan runs at Epsom on the eve of a Derby which will be run in honour of his late owner-breeder the Aga Khan who won the Coronation Cup during his lifetime with the brilliant filly Petite Etoile in 1961 and Daliapour in 2000.<\/p>\n Calandagan heads the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings by 4 lb, with the pick of his three runs in Britain last year coming when chasing home City of Troy in the Juddmonte International at York. That came after he ran away with the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot by six lengths and he did well to finish second back at Ascot in the Champion Stakes on his final start last year after meeting traffic problems. Things didn\u2019t go entirely his way, either, behind Japanese winner Danon Decile in the Dubai Sheema Classic on his reappearance, but this looks a good opportunity for Calandagan, who is Timeform’s highest-rated horse in Europe, to get his head in front again.<\/p>\n Aidan O\u2019Brien relies on the last two St Leger winners, Continuous<\/strong> and Jan Brueghel<\/strong>, to give him a tenth win in the race, and the latter can give Calandagan the most to do after losing his unbeaten record over an inadequate trip at the Curragh on his reappearance.<\/p>\n Desert Flower going for classic double<\/strong><\/p>\n Three fillies this century have completed the 1000 Guineas-Oaks double, with Kazzia successful for Saeed bin Suroor in 2002 and Minding and Love figuring among Aidan O\u2019Brien\u2019s winners in the last ten years. Godolphin\u2019s latest 1000 Guineas winner Desert Flower<\/a><\/strong>, who took her unbeaten record to five for \u2018Hot Trainer\u2019 Charlie Appleby when rallying for a length win over Flight at Newmarket last month, is the form pick in the Oaks field (16:00<\/a>), though her best effort actually came over the same course and distance at two when pulling five and a half lengths clear in the Fillies\u2019 Mile.<\/p>\n By 2000 Guineas winner Night of Thunder out of a smart mare who did all her winning at up to nine furlongs, Desert Flower has her stamina to prove over the extra half-mile of the Oaks, though there\u2019s some hope in her pedigree from her dam\u2019s half-sister Arabian Comet, by Night of Thunder\u2019s sire Dubawi, who stayed beyond a mile and a half. Desert Flower has a relaxed style of racing, so that will help her get the longer trip.<\/p>\n The interesting sub-plot to the Oaks is Ryan Moore\u2019s choice of mount from three Ballydoyle fillies who each won their trials. He\u2019s opted for the Cheshire Oaks winner Minnie Hauk<\/strong>, even though she has the lowest Timeform rating of the trio. Rated fully a stone higher is the Musidora Stakes winner Whirl <\/strong>who took a big step forward when winning impressively at York with a performance backed up by the clock, and Wayne Lordan\u2019s mount looks the biggest danger to the favourite.<\/p>\n Rhoscolyn bidding for third win in Epsom contest<\/strong><\/p>\n David O\u2019Meara\u2019s Rhoscolyn<\/a><\/strong> has been successful in both his previous appearances in the seven-furlong handicap which closes Epsom\u2019s Oaks card and which is run this year as the Debenhams Handicap (17:10<\/a>). His first win in the race came as a progressive three-year-old in 2021 when he completed a hat-trick in fine style by four lengths from older stablemate Shelir. It was three years before he contested the race again, doing so last year from a 5 lb higher mark than for his first win and under the big weight of 10-2. But despite finding himself short of room, he bounced back to his best to get the better of three-year-old Mission To Moon by a length and three quarters.<\/p>\n It\u2019s significant that both those wins came on soft ground, so any softening of the ground at Epsom beforehand will be very much in Rhoscolyn\u2019s favour. Indeed, all his wins for current connections have come on either soft or heavy ground, conditions which he hasn\u2019t had so far this season in what\u2019s been a very dry spring.<\/p>\n He\u2019s had three runs this year and, back down to his last winning mark, gave the impression he\u2019s coming back to form at Chester last Saturday when beaten less than three lengths into sixth behind Myal under his apprentice rider. Rhoscolyn had contested the same race prior to his Epsom win last year. With Jason Watson, one of the jockeys who has partnered him to success in the past, back on board, Rhoscolyn heads the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings and should make a bold bid for win number three in this contest.<\/p>\n Safer gambling<\/p>\n We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.<\/p>\n If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline \/ GamCare<\/a><\/strong> on 0808 8020 133.<\/p>\n Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org<\/a><\/strong> and gamblingtherapy.org<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Ingles provides an overview of the key things to note on Friday. Three points of interest Calandagan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-161569","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114633588265937199","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}