Opposition unlikely to thwart Minnie Hauk's Oaks double bid as Aidan O'Brien keeps pace with his record Group 1 haul

Minnie Hauk arrives at the Curragh seeking to become the 16th filly to complete the English-Irish Oaks double having managed the curious feat of winning the Epsom Classic yet possibly emerging second best in terms of enhanced reputations in the view of some neutral observers.

Whirl absolutely bossed the race from the start and, even when it looked teed up for Minnie Hauk to swoop by her in the straight, she would not relent under Wayne Lordan, battling back to go down by a neck, with the 1,000 Guineas victor Desert Flower well held in third. The runner-up duly confirmed her highly progressive status by dropping back to ten furlongs to readily thwart Kalpana in the Pretty Polly, and now it's Minnie Hauk's turn to advertise the Epsom form.

In truth, if she turns up in anything like the same shape in the €500,000 Juddmonte-sponsored Irish Oaks she probably won't come off the bridle against six inferior rivals. The most potent three-year-old threats to her at this trip are all likely housed in Ballydoyle, but none of the other three Aidan O'Brien is due to saddle should trouble Ryan Moore's mount.