O'Brien has Irish Oaks field covered

Aidan O’Brien sent out his first Irish Oaks winner in 2006 and will be widely expected to saddle his seventh on Saturday at The Curragh. O’Brien trains half the eight horses entered in the 1 1/2-mile fixture including Savethelastdance, heavily favored in antepost wagering with English bookmakers.

Savethelastdance was the odds-on favorite in the Oaks at Epsom last month after capturing the Cheshire Oaks at Chester Racecourse by 22 lengths. She proved no match at Epsom for Soul Sister, who swooped to the lead a furlong out and won by 1 3/4 lengths, Savethelastdance, briefly in front about three furlongs out, fighting off 40-1 shot Caernarfon for second.

The Oaks was contested over good-to-firm going, and there might not have been quite enough cut in the ground for Savethelastdance to show her best. The Curragh course will have more give, rated yielding to soft on Thursday with cool, cloudy, rainy weather forecast into Saturday. Savethelastdance easily won a Leopardstown maiden racing over heavy ground, while the Cheshire Oaks was run over a soft course. The mount of Ryan Moore, Savethelastdance is by Galileo and is the first foal to race produced by Daddys Lil Darling, an American Grade 1 winner trained by Kenny McPeek.

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On drier going, Savethelastdance’s stablemate Warm Heart would pose a serious threat, but her breakthrough performance last month, a robust 2 1/2-length victory in the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes over 1 1/2 miles at Royal Ascot, came on good-to-firm turf. Warm Heart, another Galileo filly, this one ridden by Seamie Heffernan, won a Leopardstown maiden over soft to heavy turf but might be a horse who prefers to stay on top of the course rather than sinking into it.

Warm Heart in early wagering was a somewhat tepid 4-1 with Bluestocking getting considerable support at 6-1. Beaten almost four lengths by Warm Heart in the Ribblesdale, the Ralph Beckett-trained Juddmonte homebred was only a head behind her in a listed race two months ago at Newbury, where the course was termed “good.”

In Tahiyra, the Aga Khan and trainer Dermot Weld have the best 3-year-old filly miler in England and Ireland, and the same connections might have a live longshot for the Irish Oaks in Azazat. Azazat on April 5 finished third at even money in the same Leopardstown maiden race won by Savethelastdance at 20-1, and a month later won a 1 1/2-mile Leopardstown maiden over soft to heavy going by nearly five lengths. Back in action June 16 at Cork in the Group 3 Munster Oaks Stakes, Azazat finished second by just a half-length to the Group 1-placed 5-year-old Rosscarberry, albeit while getting 17 pounds. Azazat, by Camelot, is at least mildly progressive, where Savethelastdance at the moment could be somewhat overrated.

Post time for the Irish Oaks is 10:45 a.m. Eastern. Watch and wager at DRFBets.

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