Aidan O’Brien boasted his usual strong hand in the fillies Classic, with five of the 14-runner field hailing from his Ballydoyle operation. The lightly raced Santa Barbara was the choice of Ryan Moore on the back of a solid fourth in the 1000 Guineas and duly made her way to the head of the betting. There was, however, plenty of strength in depth to the O’Brien team, with Snowfall having impressed many with her win in the Musidora Stakes at York.
Mark Johnston’s Dubai Fountain was rated the most likely winner from amongst the home contingent, having bolted up in the Cheshire Oaks. Elsewhere, Jane Chapple-Hyam’s Saffron Beach brought strong Classic form to the table following a gallant second in the 1000 Guineas.
Result
- 1st – Snowfall 11/2, Jockey: Frankie Dettori, Trainer: Aidan O’Brien
- 2nd – Mystery Angel 50/1, Jockey: Ben Curtis, Trainer: George Boughey
- 3rd – Divinely 20/1, Jockey: Seamie Heffernan, Trainer: Aidan O’Brien
Prize Money Breakdown
- 1st – £224,004.50
- 2nd – £84,925
- 3rd – £42,502
- 4th – £21,172
- 5th – £10,625.50
- 6th – £5,332.50
Tote and Forecast Payouts
- Tote Win – £6.40
- Tote Places – 1st – £2.30, 2nd – £9.20, 3rd – £6.00
- Exacta – £231.20
- Computer Straight Forecast (CSF) – £265.54
- Trifecta – £5,805
- Tricast – £5,052
Recap
A competitive looking Oaks on paper, but in the end, the race turned into the biggest rout in the history of the event, as one of the O’Brien contingent announced herself as a superstar in emphatic style.
Mystery Angel, Sherbet Lemon, and Dubai Fountain battled for the early lead, with Ben Curtis grabbing the rail aboard Mystery Angel, and earning the right to make the running. Curtis gave his mount every chance in steadying the pace before kicking first in the straight to move around three lengths clear.
Not too many seemed to be coming out of the pack, with the glaring exception of Snowfall. As Frankie Dettori loomed upsides the winner around 2f from home, the writing looked to be on the wall, and once he asked his mount to quicken, this was all over. Producing a scintillating turn of foot, Snowfall motored up the straight to finish fully 16 lengths clear of Mystery Angel – in the process setting a record-winning margin for the race. Another of the O’Brien runners, Divinely, stayed on best of the rest to grab third.
For O’Brien, this was a ninth Oaks success. The evergreen Frankie Dettori meanwhile made it win number six – continuing his fruitful partnership with O’Brien having ridden the trainer’s Mother Earth to victory in the 1000 Guineas earlier in the season.
Runners
- 1. Divinely – SP: 20/1, Trainer: Aidan O’Brien, Jockey: Seamie Heffernan
- 2. Dubai Fountain – SP: 4/1, Trainer: Mark Johnston, Jockey: Franny Norton
- 3. La Jaconde – SP: 40/1, Trainer: Aidan O’Brien, Jockey: William Buick
- 4. Mystery Angel – SP: 50/1, Trainer: Ben Curtis, Jockey: George Boughey
- 5. Ocean Road – SP: 25/1, Trainer: Hugo Palmer, Jockey: Oisin Murphy
- 6. Saffron Beach – SP: 10/1, Trainer: Jane Chapple-Hyam, Jockey: Adam Kirby
- 7. Santa Barbara – SP: 5/2F, Trainer: Aidan O’Brien, Jockey: Ryan Moore
- 8. Save A Forest – SP: 40/1, Trainer: Roger Varian, Jockey: Callum Shepherd
- 9. Sherbet Lemon – SP: 28/1, Trainer: Archie Watson, Jockey: Hollie Doyle
- 10. Snowfall – SP: 25/1, Trainer: Aidan O’Brien, Jockey: Frankie Dettori
- 11. Technique – SP: 125/1, Trainer: Martyn Meade, Jockey: Sean Levey
- 12. Teona – SP: 12/1, Trainer: Roger Varian, Jockey: David Egan
- 13. Willow – SP: 22/1, Trainer: Aidan O’Brien, Jockey: Wayne Lordan
- 14. Zeyaadah – SP: 6/1, Trainer: Roger Varian, Jockey: Jim Crowley
Non Runners
All Ran