the irish oaks 17th july

WOW for me, although wont be backing her at 7/4, awful price imo and it is a bit similar to the Carlton House situation whereby he finished behind the 2nd horse but had been put in as favourite.

I think WOW should be fav but no way she should be 7/4.

i ve narrowed it down to 5 horses,cant see any of the others having a chance,the 5 are in noparticular order

1)kissable
2)theyskens theory
3)crysanthanum
4)elas diamond
5)together


add between 10 and 20 lbs to all these,they re all pertfectively bred for the trip and all have never been close to running at the trip,together looks interesting - everyones given up on him now - he hasnt done bad at wrong trip,if he improves as he should ,that would make him one of the best oaks winners for years.

I've learnt my lesson before in this type of race and wouldn't look beyond the AOB horses.
I'm sure the form book , race times, sectional times and form lines give the others a strong chance of
winning - but when AOB runs his horses in these type of races they nearly always win and he fills the
places as well.

looking at your 5 comingupthehill,i would say that you have been at those funny pills again

KISSABLE: Just below top class last year, but up in trip may find the improvement needed. However, this is a tough ask first time out.

THEYSKENS THEORY: Very disappointing at Royal Ascot and personally I couldn't back her after that. She did beat Blue Bunting easily in a maiden this time last year, but are we sure the step up to a stiff 12 furlons will suit?

CHRYSANTHEMUM: Must admit I like this filly and think she has a big run in her. The step up in trip should suit her, having stayed on well in the Irish 1000.

ELAS DIAMOND: Beaten by Blue Bunting at 2 but that form reads well now. However, as with Kissable, this is a big ask first time out.

TOGETHER: Surely a doubtful stayer giving the pace she has shown over a mile. Stable vibes have been that she will stay over a mile.


Regarding all five of your selections, 'comingupthehill', not one is quoted with any of the bookmakers pricing up the race. This in itself indicates the likelihood of any of them even running.

I could be wrong.

theyskens will stay,dad won 11f mum 10f,it not only beat bunting(it harmerd it 5l),but i like the fact it went to bbreeders cup,clearly its in the top 5%class wise,add in the better ground,and the distance,its my wild card,my guts are saying ,theres something about her thats stopping me crossing her off,

as for ascot ,high heart rate ,but straight mile ,it likes a bend,its 3 best runs where all  bends,and the breeders cup

Is Elas Diamond even in training right now?

RP TTF said not yesterday.

Why exactly is Dancing Rain 4/1? It beat Wonder of Wonders very straightforwardly last time and stayed well albeit off a slow pace.

Wonder of Wonders really is quite short. Is Misty for me being underestimated again??

1)kissable NON RUNNER
2)theyskens theory NON RUNNER
3)crysanthanum POSSIBLE RUNNER
4)elas diamond NON RUNNER
5)together NON RUNNER

thats the reason you have been at the funny pills comingupthehill,cause probably non of your selections will be running

1  Amazing Beauty(96) (APO'Brien) 9,00
2  Banimpire(110) (JSBolger) 9,00
3  Blue Bunting (USA) (MAZarooni (in GB)) 9,00
4  Chrysanthemum(104) (DWachman) 9,00
5  Dancing Rain (WHaggas (in GB)) 9,00
6  Gemstone(98) (APO'Brien) 9,00
7  Hurricane Havoc(97) (JSBolger) 9,00
8  Laughing Lashes (USA)(111)(MrsJHarrington) 9,00
9  Make My Heart Sing(90) (APO'Brien) 9,00
10 Misty For Me(120) (APO'Brien) 9,00
11 Rumh (GER) (SBSuroor (in GB)) 9,00
12 Why(94) (APO'Brien)  9,00
13 Wonder Of Wonders (USA)(111) (APO'Brien) 9,00
14 Zain Al Boldan (GB) (MChannon (in GB))  9,00

1  Amazing Beauty(96) (APO'Brien) 9,00
2  Banimpire(110) (JSBolger) 9,00
3  Blue Bunting (USA) (MAZarooni (in GB)) 9,00
4  Chrysanthemum(104) (DWachman) 9,00
5  Dancing Rain (WHaggas (in GB)) 9,00
6  Gemstone(98) (APO'Brien) 9,00
7  Hurricane Havoc(97) (JSBolger) 9,00
8  Laughing Lashes (USA)(111)(MrsJHarrington) 9,00
9  Make My Heart Sing(90) (APO'Brien) 9,00
10 Misty For Me(120) (APO'Brien) 9,00
11 Rumh (GER) (SBSuroor (in GB)) 9,00
12 Why(94) (APO'Brien)  9,00
13 Wonder Of Wonders (USA)(111) (APO'Brien) 9,00
14 Zain Al Boldan (GB) (MChannon (in GB))  9,00

Has a solid chance for sure, shouldn't be out the frame imo.

WOW 10/11 

No bet race for me at this stage until the ground is known

I'm very sweet on Laughing Lashes for this race. Last year, Harrington must have rated LL to pitch her straight into a group 3 race as a maiden--staying on strongly into second against Together. LL then reversed the form with that same horse in the next race, the group 2 Debutant Stakes, also beating subsequent triple group 1 winner Misty for Me in the process.

Her breeding doesn't suggest she'll get the Oaks trip, being by US sire Mr Greely; but the way she stayed on last time in the Irish 1000 Guineas, making up late ground to be beaten less than 2 lengths, I am trusting my eye as opposd to the breeding book. She flashes her tail whenever she's hit with the whip, but that hasn't stopped her winning in the past. I think what has stopped her is her size. She's a monster, and Harrington has always said she needs time to fill out, and will be only seen at her best as a 3 year old. I like the fact Harrngton put her away for a couple of months after the Irish Guineas, allowing the filly more time to develop. At the start of the season, her jockey, FM Berry, went on record as saying this was the horse more than any other he was looking forward to riding--and that included Pathfork, Harrington's second favourite for the 2000 Gunieas.

For anyone going in heavy on one of the fancied runners in tommorrow's big race, you might want to consider having a "saver" on LL. You don't need much on with Laddies offering a stand-out 16/1.

Jair I agree she had every chance to get past but for me WOWs best attribute is stamina. Her pedigree has plenty of stamina in it so I suspect/hope a stronger pace and a more galloping track will see her win but i'd not touch her at the prices.

Jess Harrington was interviewed early season and said she was confident of LL getting 12f, Fwiw.

BB a great ew bet imo. She will have been most inconvenienced by the steady gallop at epsom. I was on WOW in the oaks and was disappointed she didnt go past. Cant have DR at all.

Wonder Of Wonders is a terrible price and must be taken on.  If the ground were riding on the fast side I would side with Blue Bunting, who was never given the opportunity to show her class at Epsom.  But Dancing Rain will love the yielding ground - she's by Danehill Dancer and most of her family goes well on yielding ground - and she is selected to confirm the Oaks form.  The slow pace at Epsom certainly caused several runners to underperform, but it's quite possible that Dancing Rain, who has done nothing but improve all season, will also benefit from a true gallop.  Wonder Of Wonders had every chance to get past her at Epsom but Dancing Rain kept pulling out extra.

James, what do you make of the ground for WOW ? She is by a Sadlers Wells mare which is a good sign but I wasn;t sure about the sire Kingmambo ?

WOW debuted on yielding ground and was a close up 2nd.

sint, I can't see any reason why WOW won't handle the yielding ground.  Most of Kingmambo's progeny out of Sadler's Wells mares have handled soft ground without any problems (a possible notable exception being Henrythenavigator).  Kingmambo himself seemed to act on any ground and his offspring (taken as a whole) don't appear to have any marked ground preferences.  WOW's dam All Too Beautiful acted well on soft ground, as did the dam's full brothers Galileo and Black Sam Bellamy.

I was just reading the Timeform summary/tip on ATR and they say surely Wonder of Wonders and Blue Bunting will beat Dancing Rain this time.

Granted a false pace can produce some funny results but Wonder of Wonders, who had every chance, was never at any stage traveling as well as Dancing Rain who won, to be honest; with a bit in hand.

Dancing Rain made all at Epsom and AOB will be out to ensure she doesn't again but William Haggas nor Johhny Murtaugh are fools. They will be happy to let her settle behind the leaders and do her own thing and not get into a fight for the lead.

I can see absolutely no reason why Wonder of Wonders should reverse placing and hr price is surely more down to who trains her than what she possesses in ability.

Blue Bunting is a different ball game. She hit a flat spot when Dancing Rain suddenly quickened going downhill. She looked all at sea but did once she got her balance she ran on really well. I suppose she could reverse placing with the first two but there not enough evidence to say yay or nay to that one.

I'll stick with Dancing Rain and hope Frankie isn't doing a flying dismount after the race