DOUBLE HANDFUL
John Shaw’s racing betting column in association with
THERE are few better experiences in life than spending a day at the races, eating and drinking all afternoon before leaving with more money than when you arrived — I’d imagine.
It’s hard to preview any Classic without mentioning Aidan
O’Brien — a man who has dominated not just this race over the last decade but Flat racing in general.
This must make him really annoying among his peers, not that he seems to have many at the moment.
Last year, the Ballydoyle beast saddled his seventh Oaks winner — his fourth in the past six years — so anything regarded as his first string is almost guaranteed to go straight to the top of the market.
But Pink Dogwood looks extremely short at around 9-4 given she only had Dermot Weld’s filly TARNAWA a length and a half back in third at Navan over 1m 2f in April.
Tarnawa went on to win the Blue Wind Stakes at Naas last month over the same distance.
Weld described Tarnawa in the aftermath of that race as tough, genuine
and improving.” He also spoke of being disappointed that she wasn’t closer to Pink Dogwood at Navan.
He expected her to stay over a longer distance, all of which makes her a cracking each-way proposition at around the 25-1 mark.
John Gosden hasn’t quite enjoyed the success of Aidan O’Brien (who has?) but he’s still bagged the Oaks on two occasions.
He looks to hold a stronger hand than O’Brien with Mehdaayih and Anapurna, who are second and third in the betting. Mehdaayih, the daughter of Frankel, has recorded a hat-trick of victories, the most impressive being at Chester in a Listed Oaks Trial earlier this month.
There are two main concerns about her chances, firstly she would favour a bit of rain. Secondly — and more significantly — Frankie Dettori has decided to ride Anapurna instead of Mehdaayih. Dettori obliterated the field aboard Anapurna in a Lingfield Oaks trial and, while it’s fair to say she didn’t beat much that day, she still recorded a quicker time than Pink Dogwood’s Navan run.