Murtagh sweet on Vow Johnny Murtagh was impressed with Vow's win at Lingfield on Saturday and the jockey feel she's a "live contender" for the Investec Oaks at Epsom. The daughter of Motivator overcame greenness to make an impressive racecourse debut at Newbury in April and while she still looked inexperienced, she took a step up to Listed class in her stride in the Betfred-sponsored Oaks Trial. She is now a best-priced 5-1 to give Murtagh and trainer William Haggas their second successive Oaks victory following Dancing Rain's all-the-way win last year. "She won very well, it was only her second run and when she got to the front she was a little bit green still," said Murtagh. "But there's plenty to look at in Lingfield, she ducked away from the big screen and ducked away from the crowd. I think the experience of that will bring her on a lot and she feels like a very high-class filly. "She ran very green the first day, she wasn't able to travel at all but she stayed on really well. "I think a mile and a half won't be any problem and she stepped up quite a bit (from first run to second). If she can improve again to the Oaks, she could be a live contender. "She seems pretty balanced and I think she'd prefer grass to all-weather. She's got a nice action. "Mr Haggas knows how to win the Oaks after Dancing Rain last year and it would be great if we could do it two years in a row. "I'm sure over the next few weeks more horses will come to the fore. It's a hard track to go there and win with an inexperienced horse. Only the very good ones do it, so I hope we've got a very good one. "You need luck in running, but the good ones are able to travel strongly and make their own luck."
