Aidan O'Brien reigns again in Oaks as Ryan Moore and Minnie Hauk down Whirl to give Ballydoyle master a Classic one-two

The Betfred Oaks was billed as the latest in a long line of Classic battles between the sport's two great superpowers, but it was a brave rival from much closer to home who gave the peerless Ryan Moore the most reason to sweat aboard the winner Minnie Hauk. 

Godolphin's Desert Flower was sent off a short-priced favourite before her attempt to become just the fourth filly this millennium to follow up victory in the 1,000 Guineas at Epsom, but she could only manage third behind Minnie Hauk and Whirl, who set the early fractions under Wayne Lordan before pushing her stablemate all the way in a pulsating finish. 

It must have made pleasant viewing for Aidan O'Brien, who also trained the fifth home Giselle. He has now won the Oaks 11 times and has set up a potential clean sweep of the Epsom Group 1s heading into Saturday's Betfred Derby, having landed the Coronation Cup with Jan Brueghel.

"I'm delighted with Minnie Hauk," said O'Brien. "She's very classy and Ryan gave her a beautiful ride. He loved her last time when she won the Cheshire Oaks and then again today. She's very exciting. She's obviously learning. She went to Chester and learned a lot and was still a bit green. She was always improving from mid-race and is a great traveller.

"The plan was always to send her forward and Ryan felt she was going very easily. He said he'd have been even happier if they went a couple of notches faster, which means she should be happy stepping up against the older horses. It's lovely for the lads and for everybody involved to have another filly of that calibre."

O'Brien last won the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe with Found in 2016, which by his exceptionally high standards might be considered a long time between drinks. In Minnie Hauk, who has taken a huge step forward after two juvenile starts, he feels he has a viable candidate.

"There's every possibility she could run in an Arc," said O'Brien. "She can go at a much stronger tempo than today so it's definitely a possibility. The improvement she's shown from Chester to here is a little bit abnormal. She's a middle-distance filly who was working like a Guineas filly."

"Every possibility" Minnie Hauk could be aimed at the ArcCredit: Edward Whitaker

Snowfall was the most recent Oaks winner to follow up in the Irish equivalent in 2021 and Minnie Hauk is 5-2 favourite to do the same. "The Irish Oaks is close to our heart," said O'Brien. "There's the Yorkshire Oaks and French trials. They're all open to her."

Unsurprisingly, the trainer was quick to deflect praise to others in a packed winner's enclosure, but did provide some insight into the mindset that has helped him and his team to enjoy unprecedented success at the highest level. 

"All we can ever do is try to do our best every day," he said. "If we make a mess of it we just accept the result and move on. If we win we appreciate it, go to bed that night and start again in the morning."

There was much to appreciate about the performance of Minnie Hauk, who was a €1.85 million yearling buy. She provided Moore with a fifth Oaks victory, and the rider said: "She's still learning a bit. She didn't have much racing at two, but Aidan had a lot of faith in her and said she'd come on a lot since Chester. 

Aidan O'Brien: 11-time winner of the OaksCredit: Edward Whitaker

"She travelled well and when the other filly fought back she wanted to go again. She's a talented filly with a good mind who obviously stays really well."

Elaborating on how the race unfolded, Moore added: "It went perfectly for me. She's still a bit babyish but she travelled strongly then went to sleep. She then quickened up better than I expected her to. Once she'd quickened she thought she'd done enough and she waited, but when Whirl came back to her she found more. She's a good filly."

It is hard to be an impressive winner without a proper challenger and that position was filled by Whirl, a comfortable winner of the Musidora Stakes previously.

"Whirl ran a great race," added O'Brien. "She stays and obviously has a lot of class, too. We were always going to go forward if nobody else wanted to. She's by Wootton Bassett and obviously got a mile and a quarter at York, but we weren't sure whether she'd get a mile and a half here."

Minnie Hauk (Ryan Moore, left) beats Whirl (Wayne Lordan) in the OaksCredit: GROSSICK RACING

'This was a good running of the Oaks'

Racing Post handicapper Jonny Pearson assesses the fillies' Classic at Epsom

There was an air of predictability at Epsom following Jan Brueghel’s success in the Coronation Cup and that never looked in danger of changing during the Oaks, with Minnie Hauk getting the better of Whirl in the finish to land a one-two for Ballydoyle.

This was a good running of the Oaks, albeit not a vintage one. In winning Minnie Hauk achieved a career-best Racing Post Rating of 118+ which is in line with the ten-year-median for the race. She had a perfect run through, tracking stablemate Whirl, and was able to quicken enough to just go by. 

Whirl achieved a career-best RPR of 117 and, along with Emily Upjohn in 2022, is the joint-highest RPR for a second-placed finisher in the race since 2009. 

In the lead-up to the race many questions were asked whether 1,000 Guineas winner Desert Flower would stay the trip. For all she managed to finish third, a RPR of 111 has her 4lb below her best two-year-old form and it is likely she will benefit from a drop back in trip. The fourth, fifth and sixth home have all franked the form and run similarly to their pre-race levels. 

For Minnie Hauk, the logical next step might be the Irish Oaks and possibly the Yorkshire Oaks, too, a route taken by the stable with Snowfall when she won the race in 2021. If this were to be successful, it would be no surprise to see her on the international circuit later in the season for the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Read more:

'Incredible' Jan Brueghel prevails in epic Coronation Cup as Francis Graffard offers 'no excuses' for odds-on Calandagan 

Derby tips 2025: Racing Post experts predict the first three home in the big race at Epsom 

'His price seems a bit bonkers' - why this horse can win the Betfred Derby 

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