Bolger hoping for big show from Akdarena Jim Bolger is hoping for a big run from Akdarena in the Investec Oaks at Epsom on Friday. Bolger knows what it takes to win the race, having saddled Jet Ski Lady to success in 1991. Akdarena won her last two starts at Navan and Naas respectively and on both occasions the daughter of Hernando cut out every yard of the running. But Bolger insists those tactics are not essential:- "We will play it by ear on the day as she doesn't have to make it, just so long as the pace is decent," said the Coolcullen handler. "It was a good performance at Naas and I think the betting indicates the level of ability of the first six fillies in the market. "I hope we will be there or thereabouts." Oaks master Henry Cecil could not be happier with his hand as he bids to win the Classic for a remarkable ninth time. Cecil's ability to train fillies has become the stuff of legend down the years, with the likes of Oh So Sharp (1985), Reams Of Verse (1997) and most recently Light Shift (2007) striking for the Warren Place yard at Epsom. This year he is represented by Aviate, who is the choice of stable jockey Tom Queally following her battling win in the Musidora Stakes, as well as the somewhat mercurial Timepiece, the mount of Eddie Ahern. All the stable noises suggest the latter is held in the highest regard by her trainer, yet she has tasted defeat on both of her starts this season, most recently suffering an odds-on reverse in the Lingfield Oaks Trial. "I do think, rightly or wrongly, that the Lingfield trial was a very funny race," said Cecil. "They went too fast early on, and I will have her ridden completely different this time. "I do think Timepiece has a lot of ability. "Aviate is improving all the time and is unbeaten. She is from a family who have a cross of Nijinsky and I do think she stays. "She was slightly flat-footed at York and took time to pick up, which gives you the feeling a longer distance will suit. "The Oaks looks quite open. I'm not saying I will win it, but I am very happy with mine and I wouldn't swap them." Joining Cecil's pair towards the head of the betting is the Marcus Tregoning-trained Rumoush, who ran a race full of promise to finish seventh in the 1000 Guineas and delighted connections in a racecourse spin at Lingfield last week. "I was very pleased with her at Lingfield and her piece of work went very well," said Tregoning. "It was a decent piece of work over a mile and a quarter. "I wanted to run her down a hill and round a bend to see how she handled it as she's still very inexperienced. "The ground went against her and she was badly drawn in the Guineas and if she'd had a decent draw I think she would have been in the frame. "She'd have been something like third and run a very decent Oaks trial. "She's got to get the trip, but she has a reasonably relaxed attitude which will help her. "She's got a good kick at the end, which will also help." John Gosden saddles Cheshire Oaks winner Gertrude Bell and points to her close form with Timepiece as he assesses her chances. "Henry thinks the world of Timepiece and she probably wasn't at her best at Lingfield, but the form of our filly is where we want it and a mile and a half will suit her," said Gosden. "She ran closely to Timepiece twice and then she was second in a very nice fillies' maiden at Doncaster. "She had a good winter and the form of her comeback win at Newbury has worked out well. "I just hope the race does not get too messy and rough, as it got a bit silly last year. "Her two-year-old form is nice and while she didn't win she was placed every time."
