Taghrooda among Oaks contenders striding out at Epsom

Taghrooda (left) pleased connections on her day out (Courtesy of Epsom Downs via Twitter) John Gosden has the favorite for the June 6 Oaks in Taghrooda. Unbeaten in two starts, Sheikh Hamdan's homebred limbered up with a work in company around Epsom during Thursday's "Breakfast with the Stars." "She is a very nice filly," Gosden said. "People are quite correct to question the form (of her six-length win in the Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket on May 4). I think the second is a decent filly but she didn't handle the testing ground next time at Goodwood and the third filly is pretty moody and did not run great in a Newbury trial. "You win by six lengths and it is not your fault if the others do not go on. She has gone nicely here this morning (with her Oaks jockey Paul Hanagan in the saddle) and soft ground would not be her favorite but she handled it. I feel the step up in trip will help her. However, I think the Oaks is a race with great depth whereas Australia showed form way ahead of anything else in the Guineas for the Derby. "Taghrooda's form ties in very nicely with the filly (Marsh Daisy) who won the Height of Fashion Stakes (at Goodwood) and might be supplemented. "Similarly, with the Irish fillies, I was particularly impressed with Marvellous -- I wish I had fillies like that who pop up and win Guineas with the second jockey on," Gosden said of the Irish One Thousand Guineas heroine trained by Aidan O'Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore. "She looked very impressive and we have seen Aidan do that and then win the Oaks with Imagine.

"Tarfasha was similarly impressive and I thought the Ribblesdale (at Royal

Ascot) would be perfect for her," Gosden quipped, since Tarfasha is a fellow

Sheikh Hamdan homebred trained by Dermot Weld. "The Oaks is a race where you can

make a case for at least half a dozen to win."

Weld noted that Tarfasha's participation depends upon the ground.

"Tarfasha is a very fluent moving filly and goes on top of the ground," Weld

said. "A lot depends weather-wise next week, if the ground was good-to-yielding

we'd be happy but if it came up soft I don't think we'd run. We'd wait for Ascot

or the Irish Oaks.

"At the moment, Sheikh Hamdan has very kindly agreed to run both fillies as

long as the ground is safe. We're happy with the filly she's medium-sized, very

adaptable, very balanced and very talented."

O'Brien is bidding for a fifth Oaks victory, although he has still to

finalize his team for the fillies' classic.

"Bracelet, Tapestry, Marvellous and the filly that win the trial at Navan

(Dazzling) are possibles," O'Brien said. "Tapestry traveled nicely early on at

the Guineas but she went flat when Joseph asked her to quicken half a mile out

so he looked after her. I felt she was a little bit light in the parade ring but

she's had a good break and I'm happy with her now.

"There's a lot of speed in Marvellous' pedigree but she's by Galileo and they

stay well. They all did a bit of work this morning and everyone seems happy.

They'll do a bit more early next week and then everyone will sit down and

discuss what we do."

Last year's Derby hero is also set to appear at Epsom next week.

"Ruler of the World is going for the (June 7) Coronation Cup. He had a nice

break after Dubai and we're very happy with him," added O'Brien.

Trainer Ed Dunlop confirmed that he will be double-handed in the Coronation

Cup with Red Cadeaux and Joshua Tree.

"Red Cadeaux, who will be aimed at the Melbourne Cup again, and Joshua Tree

will both run in the Coronation Cup," the horseman said.

Dunlop's leading Oaks hope, Amazing Maria, made a Breakfast with the Stars

appearance with Frankie Dettori in the saddle. The Mastercraftsman filly won

twice last season, but missed the Guineas because her trainer's horses were not

firing.

"The whole idea was to get her here today after she missed a race in the

spring," Dettori said. "It is well documented that Ed's horses were under a

cloud, but they seem to have turned the corner.

"She is working well and, when you do miss a trial, it is good to get her

here and show her the place and stretch her legs. It is a special course. We are

pleased with her and the rain is quite a good thing because she has raced on

soft before and likes it. I would say most of the track today was soft and

perhaps between the five and three-furlong poles it was on the heavy side. It is

softer than it looks.

"We feel that Amazing Maria has definitely got natural ability but there is a

question mark about going from a mile to a mile and a half so that is a concern.

Ed has done it before with Ouija Board (2004) and Snow Fairy (2010) in the

Oaks."

"My horses have been ill so she could not run in the One Thousand Guineas,"

Dunlop said. "Amazing Maria loved the soft ground today and Mr. Dettori was

happy -- he knows his way around here. She is a pretty good filly and it is a

question of whether she stays a mile and a half. I think she is classy enough to

win the Oaks, she will handle the track I hope and will like the ground if it

stays soft. The doubt is the trip. I am pretty confident she will get a mile and

a quarter, whether she will get a mile and a half, I don't know.

"The health of the horses is the main thing -- we have been lost in the

jungle. We don't know what it was and there were no outward signs of it. They

were not coughing, did not have dirty noses and their blood profiles were

normal, but they scoped dirty. We backed off with the horses and treated them.

Patience has been the key as they are now well again.

Another Dunlop runner, Island Remede, also went through her paces at Epsom

Thursday with Paul Hanagan up.

"Island Remede will like the ground," Dunlop said. "She was badly drawn in

the Lingfield Oaks Trial and the owner is keen to give her a run."

Madame Chiang offers value at her 14-1 odds, according to trainer David Simcock (Courtesy of British Champions Series via Twitter) Musidora heroine Madame Chiang worked Thursday morning at Epsom with William Buick up. "She is nice filly," trainer David Simcock said. "She will definitely handle soft ground which I think is quite important to her and she is remarkably well balanced, given the size of her. "William said that coming down the hill she switched onto the right leg straightaway and it is very pleasing. It was only a routine canter but all worked out very well. This was the first time William had sat on her. Kieren (Fallon) would have ridden her but he is on Ihtimal. We were looking for a suitable replacement and it was as much Kirsten's (owner Kirsten Rausing) decision as mine to put William on. "Madame Chiang has a great attitude, nothing really fazes her and she will stay very, very well. "Hopefully, next week will be as wet as this week and she handles soft ground very well. She is very likeable and has got a great pick-up. She does not do anything particularly quickly but she gets there. "Momentus will run as well," Simcock continued. She has got quite an ambitious owner and last year he had Miss You Too who finished sixth. Momentous is not a bad filly but would prefer faster ground. She is probably quicker than Madame Chiang but on this ground Madame Chiang would have the better chance."

Indeed, Simcock tabbed Madame Chiang as a value play.

"I think there is terrific value at 14-1 about a filly who handles this

ground and stays well," her trainer said. "All the trials have been much of a

muchness and nothing has been particularly impressive. I think Aidan's (O'Brien)

horse on Sunday (Marvellous) is now the one to beat but the Oaks will be coming

12 days after a tough race. There are ifs, buts and maybes about a lot of these

fillies."

Trainer Ralph Beckett, bidding for a third Oaks victory, is lining last

year's winner Talent up for the Coronation Cup. He is also set to run Regardez

in the Oaks and plans to supplement Lingfield Oaks Trial winner Honor Bound.

Beckett said: "Talent is in good shape and will do a racecourse gallop this

weekend. Her preparation has gone very well, she's already been to a racecourse

once this year and her bit of work on Sunday morning will put her right. I'm

very happy with her. She's strengthened up over the winter and trained well.

We're looking forward to it. She proved in the St Leger at Doncaster that Epsom

wasn't a one-off and I was delighted with her.

"We'll run Regardez in the Oaks and she'll do her last bit of work at the

weekend. I was pleased with her third in the Musidora, where she came off a slow

pace, looked like she was going to drop back and then ran on. I was doubtful

whether she'd stay before that.

"We are going to supplement Honor Bound as well. She has surprised us all. I

was only hoping for black-type at Lingfield. She doesn't work well at home and

you wouldn't spot her in a crowd. But she's got the pedigree for it. She's a

half-sister to Treasure Beach, who never won by too far, and he crept through

the ranks like her. Whether she's capable of winning an Oaks is another question

but she deserves her chance.

"Jim (Crowley) rode Honor Bound in work yesterday and I think he'll ride her

at Epsom. He'll sit on Regardez on Saturday and decide after that. I should

think Richard Kingscote will ride Regardez. He won on her last year and his

style of riding will suit her."

Last year's Irish One Thousand Guineas winner Just the Judge was among those

working in the morning, and she will line up in the Princess Elizabeth Stakes on

June 6.

"There are very few races for her in the middle of the year and to me next

week's race stands out," said trainer Charlie Hills, whose Oaks entry Cambridge

will not run. "The idea coming here was that she's got quite cute at home so I

thought I'd give her a change of scenery. It's all systems go for next week."

Jamie Spencer added: "She's in good shape and hopefully she'll come back next

week and progress. Her first run was no more than adequate but she felt well

this morning. She quickened up well from her lead horse and has strengthened

from three to four."

Simon Clare, from the Derby Festival's official betting partner Coral, sized

up the Oaks market.

"Reams of Verse was an odds-on favorite in 1997 but since then the

shortest-priced favorite has been 9-4," Clare said. "Taghrooda has just gone out

to 5-2 and it is conceivable that she or Marvellous (7-2) could shorten

considerably in the next week.

"The arrival of Marvellous has really breathed life into the Oaks market as

Taghrooda was looking as though she would dominate it. Then we saw Marvellous

win the Irish One Thousand Guineas in spectacular fashion at the weekend and it

is feasible that she could take over as favorite from Taghrooda. It could be a

reasonably big field but those two are likely to dominate the Oaks market.

"Taghrooda was mightily impressive in the Pretty Polly but the horses she

beat have not run well since but that is not her fault."

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