O'Brien has deep squad for Epsom Oaks
In her 2021 debut on May 2, Santa Barbara was well placed to win the Group 1 English 1000 Guineas for 3-year-old fillies at Newmarket, England, only to falter through the uphill run to the wire. Santa Barbara finished fourth by 1 1/4 lengths as the 5-2 co-favorite.
Bettors seem willing to forgive her loss in advance of Friday’s Group 1 Epsom Oaks, run at 1 1/2 miles at Epsom Downs, south of London. Once again, Santa Barbara will be favored over a track with a testing uphill finish.
Similar to the 1000 Guineas, Santa Barbara is only part of trainer Aidan O’Brien’s staggeringly deep team of 3-year-old fillies in the $560,000 Epsom Oaks. O’Brien won the 1000 Guineas with 10-1 Mother Earth, who is not part of the Epsom Oaks field. The stable still has five of the 14 runners in Saturday’s race, including the well-regarded Snowfall, winner of the Group 3 Musidora Stakes at 1 5/16 miles at York Racecourse in northern England on May 12.
Top stable jockey Ryan Moore retains the mount on Santa Barbara, who was 9-4 in early betting on Wednesday. Snowfall, the mount of five-time Oaks winner Frankie Dettori, was 9-2. Santa Barbara races for the Coolmore partnership and Georg von Opel. The filly was bred by O’Brien and his wife, Annemarie.
Of the runners not trained by O’Brien, English trainer Roger Varian has a formidable team in Zeyaadah and Teona.
Zeyaadah was second to Epsom Oaks runner Dubai Fountain in the Chesire Oaks at 1 7/16 miles at Chester Racecourse on May 5 in her first start of 2021. Zeyaadah was beaten a length after racing in traffic a quarter-mile from the finish.
In recent days, Zeyaadah has been the subject of steady bets, closing from 8-1 to 11-2 with bookmakers as of Wednesday. Zeyaadah was unbeaten in three starts at 2. She won on turf at 7 1/2 furlongs at Beverley, another track with a fierce uphill finish, and at a mile at Newmarket, in the Montrose Fillies’ Stakes on Oct 31.
Varian also starts Teona, who was third in the Musidora in her 2021 debut.
Varian is winless with four starters in the Oaks since 2014, while O’Brien leads active trainers with eight career wins. The all-time record is safe, for now. Robert Robson won the race 13 times from 1802 to 1825.
Coronation Cup
Al Aasy will be a heavy favorite to win his Group 1 debut in Friday’s $467,800 Coronation Cup at 1 1/2 miles at Epsom on the strength of two Group 3 wins at the same distance at Newbury Racecourse in April and May.
Trained by William Haggas, Al Aasy, a winner of 4 of 7 starts, faces two well-known rivals trained by O’Brien in Japan and Mogul.
Japan, the winner of the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes at York in 2019, was winless in five starts in Group 1 races in 2020, but won his 2021 debut in the Group 3 Oromonde Stakes at Chester on May 6.
Mogul was the beaten favorite in two Group 1 races in the spring – seventh in the Sheema Classic at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on March 27 and third in the Prix Ganay at Longchamp on May 2.