Betting editor Keith Melrose assesses how a fascinating Oaks might play out

It sometimes feels as though the Derby is for pleasure, the Oaks for business. You are not encouraged to root for the little guy so much in the Oaks, because the little guy is generally an owner-breeder. It tends to make Pyledriver's story seem like Rocky by comparison.

The Oaks tends to yield marginally smaller fields than the Derby, yet single-figure fields are much more common, particularly of late. That eight have been declared this year means that the Oaks field has been in single figures in three of the last four seasons.

It almost looks as though fewer and fewer see the point in taking on the powerhouses of Britain and Ireland respectively, John Gosden and Aidan O'Brien. Only two other trainers are represented in this running of the Oaks.