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You Got To Me makes all for Lingfield Oaks Trial win and cut to 16-1 for Oaks - but second Rubies Are Red is 10-1 from 33
It was a case of another day, another Oaks contender for trainer Ralph Beckett as You Got To Me blitzed clear early and managed to hold on for an all-the-way success in the Listed William Hill Oaks Trial at Lingfield.
The victory came just three days after Beckett saddled the first and the third of the Cheshire Oaks in Forest Fairy and Seaward, and he had the fourth here for good measure in the form of Treasure, owned by the King and Queen.
"It's fantastic, it's going back to what got me going – staying fillies. They're always a pleasure,” said Beckett.
The Hampshire trainer first scored in the Oaks with Look Here, who was second in this contest in 2008, and he also boasts the achievement of a one-two in the Epsom Classic with Talent and Secret Gesture in 2013.
While Secret Gesture was the one who struck at Lingfield before Epsom, it seems You Got To Me bears more similarity to her Oaks conqueror Talent at home.
"Secret Gesture's work was in a different county [to Talent's]," Beckett said. "On homework you can never tell. You Got To Me is a lazy worker – but she lights up when she gets to the track."
An enterprising ride by Hector Crouch, who led for much of the contest by around six lengths, meant the winner's name struck an ironic note as the rest could never get to her in the 1m3½f contest despite it looking like they might within the final furlong.
The 7-2 shot held on by half a length over the fast-finishing Rubies Are Red, with favourite Danielle back in third.
The ante-post Oaks market responded favourably to the performance of the Aidan O'Brien-trained Rubies Are Red, who was withdrawn from the Cheshire Oaks on Wednesday with a pulled shoe, and the Galileo sister to Arc heroine Found was cut to 8-1 second favourite (from 33) by sponsors Betfred.
You Got To Me was slashed to 14-1 (from 50), behind stablemate Forest Fairy, but Beckett was reluctant to compare his trial winners. However, the winner advertised her credentials for acting around Epsom when striding down the hill perfectly balanced.
Crouch said: "She has a lot of talent. I was a passenger for the first six furlongs, she likes to get in a fight and you have to try and not argue back with her, but her class showed in the last furlong.
"She's overcome a lot there and she'll be more relaxed for getting a run under her belt. There's plenty of improvement to come."
The daughter of Nathaniel could be set for bigger things over a mile and a half, having won this race off the back of a six-month break.
If she can win again at Epsom on May 31 she will follow the path last trodden by Anapurna in 2019. While a potent challenge from Ballydoyle is expected, Beckett's willingness to run talented fillies against each other in the Oaks means her biggest danger could well be another inmate at Kimpton Down Stables.
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