Oaks - Pink Dogwood

She did run in the Boussac despite only finishing 5th starting at 3/1 - the winner did not advertise the form either. I think there are at least two eg Hermosa (ran in the Criterium against the colts) and Just Wonderful (winner of the Rockel) with better 2 yr old credentials, assuming stamina is a given for all.

I was quite taken with Tarnawa last time - really stuck her head down and battled and the further she went the better.
At 7/1 e/w I have had to have a small bet.

Rarely do I describe the fav of an AOB trained runner for a Classic race "underwhelmed", but she was; she also hanged. She may still be green, but she's lacks that touch of "class" to warrant a fav tag for a Classic race as she did not stem her authority at the business end either like Broome did.

a nice albeit workmanlike performance, but 5-1 for the oaks leaves little room for error... then again, perhaps I should listen to the golden rule of horse racing betting

never bet against O'Brien

At the moment she appears to be the chosen one amongst the O'Brien staying fillies. Given his plaudits you would have to think she is showing the trainer far more than the bare form suggests.

I wouldn't have thought there would be too much to be gained by running in another trial.

Amazing that Pink Dogwood is still favourite. So far hardly any drift at all.

Manuela De Vega at 33/1 the standout value. Plenty of reasons why she can improve on today's performance.

imp123 where did ya hear that just wonderfull is going for irish gns ? thanks ,

thanks imp123

Piss*d off I missed that Tarnawa was running, and winning at 4/1, on Saturday.

tom segal is on pink dogwood at big prices

the whispers about pink dogwood at ballydoyle is very strong

When I used to buy the Post I often thought a lot of his success was down to whispers more than anything else.

although on the video, he reacted like he was surprised.

likely story...

Actually I disagree with the negativity on here about Pink Dogwood. Yes I can see that she looks short but this is obviously insider money, not just some public bits of cash pinning hopes on any old O'Brien runner, so, like it or not, it has to be respected from this yard. As to her form, she won her maiden impressively but for one reason or another regressed when running in France. Unlike some, I was quite impressed with her reappearance. She didn't go away and win by lengths but this was a slowly run affair so that was unlikely to happen. She was always travelling supremely well and looked a class above, I think a truly run race would've seen her win far more easily.

Obviously she still hasn't shown Oaks winning form so a lot would have to be taken on trust. However, at this stage there doesn't look to be anything outstanding amongst the opposition. I wasn't anything like as impressed with Gosden's Chester winner as I was with Enable at the time. I'd put Maqsad slightly the best of the British runners but she still needs to improve. So while I wouldn't exactly go steaming in to back Pink Dogwood I wouldn't call her bad value.

surely if they are sweet on her you have to read something into it. as Figgis says it's not just random money, it's the genuine thing.

maybe she won't win but now I'm thinking she could gag up.

increasingly I'm starting to wonder if this is the year O'Brien cracks all five classics.

yeah ok she must have been showing something at home but  the price is too short for me on what she has acheived on the track , as been stated they dont know for sure who is the number one  imo . .

If Hermosa repeats her Guineas win, even though it was a mediocre renewal, she'd have a great chance if staying. Personally though I'm more inclined to think she will regress from that win.

wonder if we'll be saying pink dogsbollocks after the oaks, or pink dogshit instead, got sucked in by the hype

I’m with differentdrum, and on MDV @ 33/1.
Got blocked at Chester and Ralph Beckett seems very confident.

I cannot comprehend the short price of Pink Dogwood on given form - home reputation or not; her price has shortened even further on account of the non-participation of Hermosa. But for the proximity of the Irish 1000G and Epsom Hermosa would have run at Epsom which would infer connections are too confident of her winning chance.

Is Maqsad running here? She's (4/1 2nd fav) in the French Oaks, but no price for Hermosa (very strange) even though AOB nominated the same race for her post Irish 1000G.

Mehdaayih beat Maqsad in an 8f race easily when the latter was odd-on with Fanny Logan a neck 2nd at Yarmouth in October; Mehdaayih beat Fanny Logan by 5.5l over 11.5f at Chester last week. Can Maqsad reverse form with Mehdaayih at Epsom?

I suspect the slow pace also favoured the winner who looked all speed to me.

yes but mehdaayih is also by frankel and his progeny tend to stay well, although it's true they didn't go much pace in that chester race. she has a long stride and acceleration so maybe she's a bit of a freak?! although neither of her parents ran over much further than ten furlongs so a strongly run 1 mile 4 might stretch her.

I might be right in thinking that frankel has yet to sire an English classic winner. this must be a great chance to break his duck as he could have three very lively contenders. anapurna has a perfect pedigree for the distance as well.

AOB initially suggesting Hermosa would run here instead of Irish 1000G could be telling post 4.30pm on 31st May.