Irish-trained Oaks contenders from last week's trials

The recent Oaks Trials that took place at the likes of Chester, Lingfield and Naas have helped to distil the list of contenders for the Epsom Classic next month.

The Oaks takes place on Friday, June 6th and here we look at some of the contenders for glory who shone in their recent trials.

Minnie Hauk

Aidan O'Brien once more dominates the Irish challenge. The Ballydoyle supremo won his ninth Cheshire Oaks as Minnie Hauk landed the Chester Listed contest under Ryan Moore.

The daughter of Frankel ran twice last season, finishing second in a maiden at Cork over a mile in October before opening her account 18 days later at Leopardstown (1m, soft).

There have been mixed signals from that form line but Minnie Hauk was sent off favourite for the Cheshire Oaks for the third time in her career and she did the job readily, making light of a wider than ideal trip around the Roodee as she came home strongly to deny Secret Of Love from the Andrew Balding stable.

She stayed the 1m3½f trip nicely and made it three Cheshire Oaks wins in four years for O'Brien and Moore. Savethelastdance, the winner in 2023, went on to finish second behind Soul Sister at Epsom and Minnie Hauk is now the shortest-priced Irish contender in the Oaks betting at around 9/1.

Giselle

Things were even more straightforward for Giselle in the Lingfield Oaks Trial on Saturday, again with Moore doing the steering.

Another filly by Frankel for the Coolmore operation, she sported a first-time hood on her fourth racecourse start, her first since finishing third in the Staffordstown Stud Stakes at the Curragh (1m, soft) behind stablemate Whirl in October.

She mastered her two rivals fairly easily once Moore sent her about the job and came home with nine lengths to spare over Simon and Ed Crisford's Harpsichord.

Giselle became the third Ballydoyle inmate to win the Lingfield Oaks Trial after Baraka (2004) and Seventh Heaven (2016).

Seventh Heaven went on to finish a well-beaten sixth as stablemate Minding triumphed at Epsom. Giselle is trading at around 12/1 the Oaks.

Garden Of Eden

O'Brien also won the Oaks Trial at Naas on Saturday when Garden Of Eden showed improved form and made it 2-2 at the Co Kildare venue, while she is 0-6 elsewhere.

Ben Coen was in the plate here, with Wayne Lordan preferring the claims of 7/4 favourite Island Hopping.

The market-leader got to the front in the 1m2½f Listed contest but she couldn't sustain her effort as Garden Of Eden and Adrian Murray's Jaliyah went by her.

This constituted an improved showing from the daughter of Saxon Warrior on her first run beyond the bare mile and there could be more to come as her stamina is further explored. She would, however, require a supplementary entry for the Epsom Classic.

Exactly

Amid all the controversy of the French 1,000 Guineas, where first-past-the-post Shes Perfect lost the race in the stewards' room as home favourite Zarigana was promoted, O'Brien saw his contenders Exactly (fourth) and Bedtime Story (sixth) run decent races in this French Classic.

Exactly was the mount of Moore here and looked yet another quality daughter of Frankel in what seems a Ballydoyle conveyor belt of talent this season.

She has lots of experience after a seven-race juvenile season and was second in the Ballylinch Stud 'Priory Belle' Stakes at Leopardstown on her comeback in March.

She certainly didn't get the rub of the green in this race, meeting traffic a couple of times in the closing stages of a fast-run mile. There could be more to come upped in trip and Exactly holds an Oaks entry, for which she is a chunk price at around 40/1.