Sea of Class to get class test in Irish Oaks

Sea of Class will get her class test Saturday at The Curragh when she meets Magic Wand and Together Forever in the Group 1 Irish Oaks.

Trained by William Haggas, the daughter of Sea The Stars and the Hernando mare Holy Moon, a late foal, debuted just three months ago, finishing second at Newmarket. In her second race, she scored a two-length victory over Athena, recent winner of the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational, and in the June 14 Abingdon Stakes at Newbury, Sea of Class made short work of six foes while ridden very confidently by regular jockey James Doyle.

Sea of Class has easily stayed 1 1/4 miles twice, comfortably handles the good-to-firm going she’ll get in the 1 1/2 -mile Irish Oaks, and so far has looked good enough to give her major rivals a battle on Saturday.

Good she will have to be to compete with Magic Wand, the four-length winner of the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes last out at Royal Ascot. Magic Wand, Ryan Moore riding for Aidan O’Brien, is a different horse racing on the top of the ground than over soft or heavy courses. On wet tracks, she has been just an average filly, but in her two starts over good or firm going, she beat Together Forever by more than three lengths in the Cheshire Oaks and won the 1 1/2-mile Ribblesdale in a laugher.

Together Forever is the third choice in ante-post wagering on Saturday’s race despite being the 2018 Epsom Oaks winner. Together Forever ran easily the best race of her life to capture the Oaks by four lengths and excelled on the tricky Epsom course and over heavy ground that surely compromised some of the competition. She came back to finish a well-beaten second to the 4-year-old Urban Fox, also trained by Haggas, in the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes.

The Oaks is the sixth of eight races at The Curragh, with a scheduled post time of 12:30 p.m. Eastern.