'We've been very pleased with her and she looks great' - trainer and jockey quotes for an open-looking Betfred Oaks

Ylang Ylang and Rubies Are Red bid to give Aidan O'Brien 11th triumph

Aidan O'Brien continues to close in on record number of Oaks victories of Robert Robson, whose 13th and final success in the Classic came 199 years ago.

O'Brien already has ten wins in the bank and his first string has looked for some time to be Ylang Ylang, who appeared an ideal Oaks contender when winning the Fillies' Mile last October and finished fifth in the 1,000 Guineas on her first start of 2024.

Most of the Ballydoyle three-year-olds have been short of their peak first time out this season and O'Brien is hopeful Ylang Ylang can step forward for the run and benefit from the step up in trip.

Ylang Ylang heads up the gallop at Ballydoyle under Dean GallagherCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

"Everything has gone well since Newmarket with Ylang Ylang," said O'Brien. "She was fit going to Newmarket and has been in good form. Everyone seems happy with her. Ryan [Moore] was very confident after the Guineas she'd get a mile and a quarter so it will be interesting to see her over a mile and a half."

Rubies Are Red is yet to get her head in front in three starts but went on many shortlists when rattling home to be second in the Lingfield Oaks Trial from a seemingly unpromising position.

O'Brien said: "Rubies Are Red ran well at Lingfield and we were delighted with her. She's lazy at home and doesn't show an awful lot. She looks like a filly who gets a mile and a half well."

RP Recommends: how to bet on the Oaks at Epsom

By Tom Park, audience editor

I fancy Ylang Ylang will be tough to beat here, but Sky Bet go an exceptional five places, which is such a generous offer that it is almost begging you to take on the favourite. I am willing to take a chance on Dance Sequence, whose run in the 1,000 Guineas was perhaps better than it looked. That form is looking red hot and she looked like coming with a big challenge a furlong out before looking awkward and fizzling out. She might surprise a few here at a big price and it is worth pointing out she is the second highest-rated filly in the race.

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Dermot Weld: 'Ezeliya has never run the trip but I think she'll be okay'

Ezeliya has been something of a slow burner in emerging as a key contender for the Classic, having come through the winter with a maiden win at Cork to her name from two starts at two.

The Aga Khan's daughter of Dubawi was only a 9-1 chance for the Group 3 Salsabil Stakes at Navan but entered the Epsom picture when taking the measure of Purple Lily and the reopposing Caught U Looking.

Ezeliya and Chris Hayes (green) come to claim Purple Lily at NavanCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

That was over ten furlongs but her talented dam Eziyra was good enough over a mile and a half to finish third in the Hong Kong Vase and connections appear unconcerned about her ability to stay.

Dermot Weld said: "She seems well. Epsom is an unusual track and it suits some and not others but we're hoping she can handle it. She's never run over this distance but I think it will be okay for her."

Ralph Beckett four-handed in search of third Oaks success

It is now 11 years since the second of Ralph Beckett's two Oaks victories but he has no fewer than four fillies who have played their way on to the team for this year's Classic.

During a hectic trials season Forest Fairy took the step up from Wolverhampton maiden winner to claim a first Cheshire Oaks for Beckett, with Seaward a staying-on third.

Three days later You Got To Me might have appeared to be doing too much on the front end in the Lingfield Oaks Trial but showed a great attitude to repel all-comers.

A close-up fourth in the same race, the King and Queen's Treasure might originally have been thought of as more of a Ribblesdale filly, but the potential for ease in the ground has encouraged Beckett to bid for Classic glory.

Ralph Beckett watches Forest Fairy head out for morning workCredit: Steve Davies

Should Epsom catch more rain, it is Seaward, who was only seventh to Ylang Ylang in last season's Fillies' Mile on her only previous run on soft ground, who might be the one most inconvenienced.

Beckett said: "Forest Fairy and Treasure will both enjoy juice in the ground. You Got To Me will handle it in our opinion. We will walk the track before making a decision on Seaward's participation."

Secret Satire out to extend recent record of Musidora as key trial

Two of the last three winners of the Musidora Stakes at York have gone on to double up in the Oaks, and Secret Satire put in the kind of display on the Knavesmire that suggested she might be up to emulating Snowfall (2021) and Soul Sister (2023).

Andrew Balding took the bold decision to send the daughter of Advertise to York off the back of a third-placed effort in a novice race at Sandown in April, and was rewarded when she pulled two lengths clear of Francophone, who bolstered the form when winning Goodwood's Listed Height Of Fashion Stakes last Saturday.

Balding won the Oaks with his first runner, Casual Look, in 2003, and Secret Satire will be only his third runner in the race since.

Jockey Oisin Murphy said: "She's in good form and she's going a little bit further [than in the Musidora]. Her dam was second in the Cheshire Oaks and she also won a Listed race on heavy ground, so I think the ground will be fine for her. It's a big enough field, but she should be able to travel around."

Dance Sequence bids to erase memory of 1,000 Guineas ninth

If there are slight question marks about Secret Satire's ability to fully see out an extra furlong and a half from the Musidora, then Dance Sequence must prove she can handle an extra half a mile after finishing ninth to Elmalka in the 1,000 Guineas.

That was the daughter of Dubawi's first start at further than seven furlongs, although she is out of a daughter to Lancashire Oaks winner Playful Act, which gives some hope she might thrive over middle distances.

Dance Sequence (blue) winning the Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket last OctoberCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

"We've been very pleased with her and she looks great," said Charlie Appleby. "We've given her a nice little break since the 1,000 Guineas, when she could never really let herself down on ground that was too quick for her. Conditions at Epsom should be much more to her liking, although the step up in trip is a question mark."

Caught U Looking a rare Epsom runner for Noel Meade

Winner of the Group 3 Weld Park Stakes last September, Caught U Looking was far from disgraced when sixth to Ylang Ylang in the Fillies' Mile, and went down by two lengths to Ezeliya in the Salsabil Stakes on her seasonal reappearance under Ben Coen.

"We thought it was a good run at Navan giving away 3lb," trainer Noel Meade said of the daughter of 2016 Derby winner Harzand. "The pace was quite slow early on and they quickened past her but we were happy. Ben and Colin [Keane] think she'll stay this trip, as does her pedigree.

"She's in great shape. I was struggling with her during the spring and it's only the last ten days or so she has really started to come to herself. Colin seems to think she'll handle Epsom and she's a very well-balanced filly. I've only ever had one runner at Epsom and you don't know until you try. She's worked downhill and she ran at Navan down a hill so hopefully the track will be fine."

Making Dreams out to bounce back from Longchamp disappointment

Ten runs as a two-year-old might not be the usual profile for an Oaks contender but a busy juvenile campaign doesn't seem to have harmed Making Dreams' enthusiasm, certainly judging by her six-length victory in the Group 3 Prix Penelope on much the deepest ground she has encountered.

That performance earned her a €750,000 transfer to Japan owner Katsumi Yoshida, before she got tapped for toe late on in the Group 2 Prix Saint-Alary, finishing a well-beaten sixth.

On pedigree she is not guaranteed to appreciate the extra two furlongs but a more solid gallop than the one at Longchamp might help draw the sting out of some of the speedier fillies in the line-up.

War Chimes 'much better than the result' after tame Saint-Alary show

David Menuisier expects War Chimes to improve for a step up in tripCredit: Racing Post/Scott Burton

A Listed winner over nine furlongs at two, War Chimes finished one place in front of Making Dreams in the Saint-Alary over a trip which trainer David Menuisier warned beforehand was likely to be too short for her.

"It was on the sharp side and she did far too much," he said. "She jumped well and then Marie Velon couldn't slot her in and she never really caught her breath at all. She faded rather tamely in the final furlong and I'd take the performance with a pinch of salt.

"She's much better than the result and I think she'll improve with the step up in trip. She's always looked to me she has stamina and I think she'll show more."

Read Friday's previews:

2.00 Epsom: 'We've got a pretty decent record' - Richard Hannon hopeful of adding another Woodcote victory with promising New Charter 

2.35 Epsom: 'He's been in fantastic form this year' - trainer quotes and analysis for a competitive handicap on ITV at Epsom 

3.10 Epsom: does Emily Upjohn retain her ability to upset the boys again in wide-open Coronation Cup? 

3.45 Epsom: 'He's done a lot at home and he'll do more with juice in the ground' - key quotes and analysis for competitive handicap 

Patience is needed for the Oaks - which of Friday's runners might be about to end 43 years of hurt? 

Oaks prize could be heading back to Ireland - but not to Aidan O'Brien 

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