Friday sees the third Classic of the UK flat horse racing season taking place – the Epsom Oaks.<\/p>\n
Eleven horses are set to head to post in the final Classic of the season exclusively for the fillies, and it once more looks to be a high-class renewal.<\/p>\n
And we\u2019re taking a closer look at all 11 runners in our 2022 Epsom Oaks Preview.<\/p>\n
Concert Hall<\/strong><\/p>\n Trainer Aidan O\u2019Brien has trained five of the last seven winners of the race, and his best chance of notching up another Oaks victory could well be Concert Hall.<\/p>\n She won the Salsabil Stakes at Navan before dropping back in trip when a strong-finishing 3rd in the Irish 1000 Guineas – she\u2019s likely to improve over this new trip at Epsom at looks a solid each-way player.<\/p>\n Emily Upjohn is a perfect three from three in her racing career and blew the field away when landing the Musidora at York.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to know her ceiling for improvement, but she\u2019s a worthy favourite on what she\u2019s shown so far, and John Gosden has trained three Oaks winners since 2014.<\/p>\n Kawida<\/strong><\/p>\n Kawida is bred for middle distances, but she did win over 7f and a mile as a two-year-old.<\/p>\n Her best piece of form so far was when she ran 3rd in a Group 3 at Saint-Cloud, but she\u2019ll need to show plenty of improvement to trouble this field.<\/p>\n Moon De Vega<\/strong><\/p>\n Trained by Ralph Beckett, Moon De Vega improved for every run last season, winning her final race at Doncaster over a mile.<\/p>\n She reappeared in the Cheshire Oaks at the start of May, running 4th despite finding trouble in-running so you can put a line through that run – an exciting runner if she stays the trip.<\/p>\n Nashwa<\/strong><\/p>\n Nashwa offers jockey Hollie Doyle the chance to become the first-ever female jockey to ride a UK Classic winner, and this daughter of Frankel looks set to run a big race.<\/p>\n She\u2019s more compact than stablemate Emily Upjohn so she should handle Epsom\u2019s undulations and is bred for the trip – can go very close.<\/p>\n Rogue Millenium<\/strong><\/p>\n Rogue Millenium has won both her career races and was impressive when landing the Oaks Trial at Lingfield.<\/p>\n That performance bodes well due to Lingfield\u2019s similarity to Epsom, but she will have to improve to be in the mix come Friday.<\/p>\n The Algarve<\/strong><\/p>\n Another representative for trainer Aidan O\u2019Brien but she looks out of her depth here, having trailed home well behind Emily Upjohn in the Musidora at York.<\/p>\n She looks likely to be in this as a pacemaker for her stablemates – expect her to be back-peddling as they head into the straight.<\/p>\n Thoughts Of June<\/strong><\/p>\n Thoughts Of June is another runner from the Aidan O\u2019Brien yard, and she landed the Cheshire Oaks under Ryan Moore.<\/p>\n Moore has chosen to abandon her for Epsom, though, and despite that Chester victory, others in the field have better form in the book.<\/p>\n Tranquil Lady<\/strong><\/p>\n Another trained by O\u2019Brien – but this time by Joseph, Aidan\u2019s son.<\/p>\n She put in an excellent performance when landing a Group 3 at Naas at the start of May, and a repeat of that run should see her run a solid race if taking to Epsom.<\/p>\n Tuesday<\/strong><\/p>\n She was staying on at the Curragh, so the step up in trip in the Oaks should suit, and interesting that she\u2019s Ryan Moore\u2019s pick for the race.<\/p>\n With The Moonlight<\/strong><\/p>\n Trained by Charlie Appleby, With The Moonlight landed the Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket to cement her as a filly to follow this season.<\/p>\n That form has taken a knock in recent weeks, though, so she will have to improve if she\u2019s to give Godolphin their first Oaks success since 2002.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Friday sees the third Classic of the UK flat horse racing season taking place – the Epsom Oaks. Eleven horses are set to head to post in the final Classic of the season exclusively for the fillies, and it once more looks to be a high-class renewal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[376],"tags":[1109,375,880],"class_list":["post-49935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-racing","tag-epsom-oaks","tag-horse-racing","tag-horses-to-follow"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nEmily Upjohn<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Tuesday has gone close twice this season – running 3rd in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and 2nd in the Irish 1000 Guineas at the Curragh.<\/p>\n