Minnie Hauk will try to become the 16th filly to complete the Epsom-Curragh Oaks double this Saturday and follow in the hoofprints of some stellar names.<\/p>\n
Aidan O\u2019Brien\u2019s<\/a> star got the better of her stable companion Whirl in an exciting finish at Epsom last month and the form got a major boost when the latter beat Kalpana in a memorable finish to the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh over Derby weekend.<\/p>\n Lambourn became the 20th colt to pull off the Epsom-Curragh double on that occasion, winning at cramped 8-13 odds for O\u2019Brien and jockey Ryan Moore. <\/p>\n Minnie Hauk is already shorter than that in some ante-posts for the Juddmonte Irish Oaks and could start an even more prohibitive price. <\/p>\n Godolphin\u2019s Desert Flower, who started favourite at Epsom but could only finish third, has been ruled out of the race. Catalina Delcarpio started favourite for Royal Ascot\u2019s Ribblesdale Stakes but managed only third, after which trainer Paddy Twomey suggested a drop in trip could be next. <\/p>\n O\u2019Brien didn\u2019t rule out the Irish Oaks for the Ribblesdale winner Garden Of Eden but there\u2019s no doubt Minnie Hauk is his big hope for a record-extending eighth success in the Irish Oaks.<\/p>\n \u201cShe is on course for the Curragh, and everything has went well since Epsom so far,\u201d the Ballydoyle trainer confirmed on Sunday. <\/p>\n The last of O\u2019Brien\u2019s winners in the \u20ac500,000 highlight was Snowfall, a spectacular 16-length winner at Epsom, who completed the double as a 2-7 favourite at the Curragh. That ill-fated filly was the sixth this century to pull off the feat. <\/p>\n Others such as Enable (2017), Snow Fairy (2010) and Ouija Board (2004) went on to become some of the highest rated and most accomplished performers in the modern history of the sport. <\/p>\n Winner of the Chesire Oaks prior to Epsom, and winner of three of her four career starts to date, Minnie Hauk was also the \u20ac1.85 million sales topper at the 2023 Goffs Orby Sale. She is also already among the favourites to emulate Enable and land October\u2019s Prix de l\u2019Arc de Triomphe. <\/p>\n After criticism about the quality of Derby day\u2019s undercard, with six handicaps due to inclusion in World Pool betting, the Oaks programme is crammed with other black-type action.<\/p>\n A trio of Group Two prizes includes the Gain Railway Stakes, a two-year-old prize moved from Derby day, and the Barberstown Castle Sapphire Stakes.<\/p>\n Runner-up to Highfield Princess in the 2022 Flying Five over course and distance, Erosandpsyche is now with trainer Danny Murphy who is keeping his fingers crossed for rainfall ahead of the Sapphire.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m praying for rain, he loves soft ground that horse. He\u2019s improving, he didn\u2019t get the six [furlongs] the last day [at the Curragh]. We\u2019ll stick to five. He\u2019ll run in the Sapphire because he is in great old form,\u201d Murphy reported. <\/p>\n