Our Expert Tips for the Irish Oaks We are set for a terrific couple of days at the Curragh on Juddmonte Irish Oaks weekend, and with it comes the feature Irish Oaks on Saturday, a Group 1 Classic that might lack some depth this year. Run over the 1m4f distance, the Irish Oaks has often been won by a foreign raider, but with no foreign representative this time, this year's renewal looks set to go to Ballydoyle with Epsom Oaks winner Minnie Hauk bidding for her Oaks double. A field of seven have been declared for Saturday's race and our expert has picked out a pair to follow. Irish Oaks Selections Tip: Minnie Hauk Next Best: Wemighttakedlongway AK BETS Offer If you already have an AK BETS account, check out more of the best betting sites and online casinos It looks like a foregone conclusion at first glance Without doubt, this is a very weak renewal of the Irish Oaks when there's only one standout performer in the seven-runner lineup and that is Minnie Hauk, who should win this doing handstands if the form book is anything to go by. The daughter of Frankel was actually beaten by the reopposing Wemighttakedlongway on her debut at Cork in October, but she has gone on to far greater things and it will be a surprise if that piece of form is upheld. She beat the reopposing Subsonic when winning a Leopardstown maiden over a mile last year, but she strengthened up over the next few months and returned with a Listed victory at Chester in May when landing the Cheshire Oaks. Sent off a 9/2 shot on her latest start in the Epsom Oaks, she dug deep in the closing stages to see off her stablemate Whirl in the Classic, with the pair pulling four lengths clear of Desert Flower in the closing stages. Clearly, that's by far and away the strongest piece of form on offer here and she seems to be improving with each run. She's going to take the world of beating and deserves to be the price she is - long odds-on. Joseph O'Brien runner can finish a remote second As previously mentioned, Wemighttakedlongway has beaten the favourite before and Joseph O'Brien's filly looks best placed to finish second, as the other contenders need to improve drastically to figure. The daughter of Australia won a 1m2f Group 3 at Navan on soft ground in April, but she has struggled at the top table in two starts since, notably when fourth in the Epsom Oaks and she filled the same position in the Pretty Polly Stakes here over 1m2f on her latest run. They were far from disgraceful efforts nonetheless, but the stamina here has to come into question. She didn't quite see out the 1m4f at Epsom and this could be a stiffer test, but she should definitely fill second place. Any other contenders? In a nutshell, it would be a big surprise if anything else got into the race. The Ballydoyle second string Merrily is third favourite in the betting but she failed to beat a single rival home on her last two assignments.
