This Saturday’s Juddmonte Irish Oaks race will see the largest field since 2010, with 14 runners competing in this major event at the Curragh, which boasts a €500,000 prize pool and is brimming with potential for significant outcomes.
One of the more captivating narratives is Willie Mullins’ bid to grab classic victory with his under-exercised filly, Lope De Lilas, who will be racing under the increasingly influential Wathnan Racing team, representing the Emir of Qatar for the first time.
Mullins, a titanic figure in jump racing, will be up against his flat racing counterpart, Aidan O’Brien, who has three potential winners that could take his record Oaks wins to eight. Johnny Murtagh, who currently holds the record for the most Irish Oaks victories for a jockey (six), seeks to claim his debut win as a trainer with the Aga Khan’s Hanalia, which was supplemented for €50,000 earlier this week.
Alongside him, Lava Stream was also supplemented and comes as one of three challenges from across the channel. Based in France, but hailing from Cork, Gavin Hernon also has the opportunity to attain his inaugural classic triumph through Dare To Dream.
A particularly open iteration of the race this year misses Epsom Oaks star, Ezeliya, but may offer a unique chance for an illustrious win. While a favourite victor for the fourth consecutive year could be on the cards, the size of the field implies that many are hedging their bets.
Ryan Moore’s surprising choice to back Content over Ribblesdale champion Port Fairy led to shakeup in ante-post gambling, placing Content as race’s highest rated contender, albeit with a comparatively humble rating of 109. Nevertheless, she still stands as a strong contender to etch her name into racing lore, should she prevail.
Her illustrious sire, Galileo, 12-time champion and sadly passed in 2021, has remained frustratingly stuck on 99 individual career Group One victories, falling just shy of an impressive 100 wins. In the Oaks, three of his daughters will compete, and with only a remaining group of 13 two-year-olds racing this year, the opportunity for such an exceptional achievement is quickly running out.
Galileo, a well-established sire, boasts four victors at the Irish Oaks throughout his career. His offspring Content has shown significant promise since her early racing days. Despite coming third to Bluestocking in the Prety Polly, her potential remains undimmed, as she faces the new challenge of a mile and a half course.
When it comes to Port Fairy’s winning round against Lava Stream at Ascot, the subsequent decision made by Lava Stream’s team to continue competing shows resilience. Wayne Lordan had the responsibility of stepping in for Port Fairy on that occasion.
The forecast predicts a downpour of up to 13 millilitres overnight which could lead to softer ground conditions than expected. This should pose no difficulty for Colin Keane’s steed, Caught U Looking. She ranked fifth in Epsom against You Got To Me and War Chimes, despite War Chimes’ remarkable third-place finish despite 50/1 odds.
Seamus Heffernan, a seasoned local rider with a 2016 Oaks win under his belt with Seventh Heaven, will be taking the reins on a filly who showed impressive endurance at Epsom, despite encountering some difficulties. The Curragh with its softer ground should provide a better environment. The filly’s handler David Menuisier recently came in second in last month’s Irish Derby with Sunway.
The Group Two Comer Group Curragh Cup is set to be equally captivating, especially with the competition between Mullins and O’Brien. The race will also feature two unplanned entrants, Seattle Creek and Aircraft Carrier, representing billionaire Luke Comer and now trained by his son, Luke W. Comer.
Luke Comer Sr. began his three-year suspension from training racehorses due to doping offences. This has sprouted numerous speculations about the future of his sizeable string kept at Kiltiernan, Co Dublin. Due to restrictions, Luke Comer can only train a maximum of four horses in each code.
When it comes to the actual race, the conditions could favour Mullins’s horse, Vauban, more than Tower Of London. The two went head-to-head at York back in May, with Vauban coming out victorious before trying and failing to maintain his stamina at the Royal Ascot Gold Cup. The Comer entrants are not expected to pose a significant threat to the race leaders.
The Group Two Romanised Minstrel Stakes, the main event of the racing schedule at Curragh this Sunday, is poised for an exceptional performance from the three-year-old, Mountain Bear. The horse is set to build on his remarkable run at the Jersey Stakes with an uncommon triumph in the seven-furlong contest.
Meanwhile, Horse Racing Ireland’s (HRI) CEO, Suzanne Eade, recently reported a 1.5 per cent decline in the crowd turnout for the first half of 2024. In her opinion, the dip in attendance could have been averted if there were no disruptions to the April race schedule. Eade derived these numbers from the recorded attendance of 535,431 during the first six months of the current year.
The CEO further addressed the influence of bad weather in spring, resulting in the need to reorganise race meetings, stating that these rearranged fixtures don’t draw the same crowds as would have attended on the originally planned date. Eade noted that the decrease in attendance during the initial half of the year could have been avoided had a series of these races proceeded as originally planned.
Further data from HRI’s mid-year report showed a 2.5 per cent decrease in training horses, with the numbers dropping to 8,394. Additionally, the total on-site betting figures slipped by 2.8 per cent, rounding up to €35.1 million.