20-1 to 8-1: British raider backed for Irish Oaks glory at the Curragh

Ralph Beckett is a two-time Oaks winner in Britain and is fancied to land the Juddmonte Irish Oaks (3.40) with a gamble on outsider You Got To Me continuing on Saturday morning.

Odds of 20-1 available with Paddy Power on Friday halved during the day and the Lingfield Oaks Trial winner in May is now 8-1 to strike.

Having finished fourth in the Oaks, the daughter of Nathaniel is the highest-placed finisher from Epsom to line up at the Curragh. However, she filled the same spot in the Ribblesdale at Royal Ascot a fortnight later and takes on winner Port Fairy and second Lava Stream.

The former is bidding to give trainer Aidan O'Brien a record-extending eighth win in the race but Ryan Moore is booked to ride stablemate Content, who became the new favourite and heads the market at 7-2.

Vauban has also proved popular in the Comer Group International Curragh Cup (4.15) market, shortening to 5-4 (from 7-4) for Willie Mullins and Colin Keane. Last season's beaten Melbourne Cup favourite finished fourth in the Gold Cup at Ascot on his last start.

Followers of this year's Tour de France will know of leading candidate Jonas Vingegaard, but the horse Vingegaard is the one being backed for Weatherbys Super Sprint Stakes (3.35).

The Archie Watson-trained runner is 4-1 (from 6-1) for the day's big sprint, having caught the eye when finishing fifth at Royal Ascot last time.

Updated at 11.30am

Curragh to be hit by rain

The ground at the Curragh is good for the Juddmonte Irish Oaks (3.40), although showers are forecast during racing.

Initial forecasts suggested the track could be hit by up to 13mm of rain during Saturday, but a more optimistic outlook now suggests 4-5mm could arrive during the afternoon.

Brendan Sheridan, clerk of the course at the Curragh, said on Saturday morning: "The ground remains good. Yesterday was very dry and warm but in the last couple of hours we've had 2mm of rain. It's raining at present but the forecast from Met Eireann has come back a lot since yesterday, so there's a possibility of another 4-5mm through the day.

"It'll be showers which will clear off this evening. Tomorrow is a mainly dry day with the odd isolated shower.

"We've fresh ground on both tracks, stalls in the centre for all sprints and we're looking forward to a good weekend's racing."

Conditions quickened to good to firm, good in places at Newbury for its popular Weatherbys Super Sprint Stakes (3.35) card after temperatures reached 31C on Friday.

It remained dry overnight but there is a chance of light showers could arrive towards the end of racing. The track watered to the tune of 5mm on the bend turning away from home, which will be raced on as runners complete a circuit for the 2m½f handicap (2.25).

Clerk of the course George Hill said on Saturday morning: "It was the hottest day of the year for us yesterday and there was a slight going change during racing. We're a mixture of good to firm and good ground and we're expecting a cooler day, with highs of 21C or 22C, and mostly cloudy.

"There will be a bit of drizzle at times but not amounting to anything and then some light showers possible from 4-5pm but it could be after the last. If it does come it'll only be a couple of mils but I'd suspect racing would've finished before we got any light showers."

A rail movement at Market Rasen, where the ground is good, means all race distances will be longer by at least 100 yards.

The featured Unibet Summer Plate (3.15) is 156 yards longer with the chase bend out 14 yards.

Posted at 9am