Figgis and other form gurus please .. the English Oaks 2011

Not one of the guru's on here lib,but one what might be worth a look at about 20s is the A O'Brien trained  Wonder Of Wonders.Her dam ran 2nd to Oujia Board in the Oaks,enough stamina in the family.
I am pretty certain she will stay the 12f,the one down side is she probably would not want it to quick(some more knowledgeable on here) may help on that score.

GL mate

Thanks but I'm certainly not the person to ask about pre-season ante post Oaks bets, as the last winner I backed pre-trials was Lady Carla back in '96! I'm no expert on pedigrees either. If I had to pick one I would unimaginitively side with White Moonstone.

PS It's been a very long day.

SOF .. I was on at fancy prices too. Didn't LC break the clock in a 7F race at somewhere like Leicester towards the back end of the season? Sir Henry is still the master you know.

Not a terribly original pick, I'm afraid, but I fancy Havant for the Oaks.  She's unbeaten in two starts: a clear-cut debut win on soft ground at Newmarket (stayed on strongly, won easily in a very slow time) was followed by an impressive win in the Gr.3 Oh So Sharp Stakes on yielding ground (dwelt, travelled strongly, progress to lead over a furlong out, stayed on strongly).  Her pedigree (she’s by Halling out of a mare who was placed over 12f and has produced several 12-14f winners) strongly suggests that she will be well suited by middle distances.  The only slight concern is that she is yet to race on a fast surface (she showed a notable knee-action in the Rockfel), so it remains to be seen whether she will prove as effective on fast ground this year.  On the plus side, her sire Halling acted well on a fast surface and Havant is a half-sister to Leadership, who despite being by soft-ground influence Selkirk acted well on fast ground (he won a Group 1 in Italy on firm), and to Tuscan Gold, who won on good to firm.  Havant is a general 10/1 shot for the Oaks but is more likely (in my view) to stay the trip than White Moonstone, who is clear favourite in some books.

Wonder Of Wonders is undoubtedly very promising and should make considerable improvement from her debut second, but the form is nothing special (the third, beaten 1¼ lengths behind Wonder Of Wonders at Leopardstown, was beaten again next time and is officially rated 82) and there's simply no way of knowing whether she will prove up to Oaks class.  She'd be a sporting bet at around 40/1-50/1 (odds which of course would never be offered for a promising Ballydoyle inmate), but she certainly doesn't represent any sort of value at around half those odds.  But good luck to anyone who's backed her at fancy prices.

jamesp .. always enjoy reading what you say .. you are indeed a very wise man. I've hoovered up the fancy prices on Kirinda for an interest and am going to be all in Havant.

I'm on Havant at a nice price. 

Lady Carla would have been a big price then.

I'm interested to hear that you fancy Misty For Me for the Oaks, SOF.  She was staying on well at the end of the Prix Marcel Boussac so looks sure to get further than a mile, but her dam is a Storm Cat half-sister to Fasliyev and winning sprinter Chinook (both by Nureyev) and full sister to 7f winner Kamarinskaya.  There's lots of speed in that pedigree and I wouldn't be too confident about her getting 12f in Group 1 company.

Wonder of Wonders has attracted money in recent weeks and i wouldnt be worried about the form only being in the 80s were a once-raced O'Brien horse is concerned but i must say i didnt like her head carriage when watching the vid.....not the sort of thing that usually bothers me but it was very high, right back in the jockey's face....will be interesting to see if that was extreme greenness and if she knuckles down a bit more nxt time.

Blue Bunting would seem to be a worthy favourite and unless the going comes up very soft should go very close

Agreed she might well be okay on really soft ground, but she seemed to love the quick going today.

The case for her having a very strong chance indeed at Epsom is the question of stamina. She is bred to be unsuited by a trip as short as a mile; being by Dynaformer out of Linamix mare is very stout breeding indeed. Its quite a  surprise that she is quick enough to wina  fast going 1000 Guineas and is almost certain to improve considerably for the step up to 12 furlongs.

I tell you something, there is no way the ground is genuine Good to firm.

Yesterday William Haggas ran a horse called Green Destiny that won the opening handicap. On his previous start that horse had won on Heavy, and before that he won on Good to Firm at Haydock, but he got jarred up badly and needed 100 days off to recover. Haggas was interview before the race by Nick Luck and when Haggas said the horse had previously been jarred up on GF, Nick Luck then asked him '' so how close are you to pulling the horse out''.


''I'm not'' said Haggas. ''I've spoken to Michael Prosser and he has assured me the ground will be fine''. Basically the Clerk heavily watered the track, and it was more like Good ground than genuine GF.

What do you think about that one of Channon's that won the trial at Lingers? Time any good. Visibly looked impressive I thought.

It was a good performance on the clock. I think she's still a bit over priced for the Oaks as a repeat of that would give her great place prospects. However, even though she's made rapid progress I think it's unlikely she will improve enough to beat the fav.

I'm on. Thank - you chaps.

im on the fav and guineas winners record in oaks is very strong,backed her after the 1000 at 7/2 can see her starting around 7/4 on the day/4

* from her Guineas run