O'Brien filly among Yorkshire Oaks possibles Venus De Milo is among 14 fillies and mares still in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks at York next Thursday. The Aidan O'Brien-trained daughter of Duke Of Marmalade has progressed into a more than useful staying filly and suffered her only defeat in four outings when beaten just half a length into second behind Chicquita in the Irish Oaks at the Curragh last month. She subsequently dropped to Group Three level and stretched well clear in the final furlong when beating Bunairgead by three and a half lengths in the Give Thanks Stakes at Cork. She could be joined on the Knavesmire by the Jim Bolger-trained Scintillula, who finished fourth in the Irish Oaks and later beat Mars in the Meld Stakes at Leopardstown. Luca Cumani's Emirates Queen has been supplemented for the Group One contest at a cost of £32,500. Winner of the Lancashire Oaks, she finished third at Deauville last week and will be having her first crack at the top level. Ralph Beckett's pair of Talent and Secret Gesture, first and second in the Epsom Oaks, stand their ground after enduring differing degrees of success in their subsequent outings. Talent ran no sort of a race in the Irish Oaks, while Secret Gesture was just touched off in the German equivalent. Lady Cecil has three possibles in the Ribblesdale winner Riposte, the lightly raced Wild Coco and the unexposed Songbird. The Fugue may attempt to go one better than last year, but needs to bounce back from a disappointing run in the Eclipse. "All being well, The Fugue will run in the Yorkshire Oaks. She ran great at Ascot but scoped badly after the Eclipse. Hopefully, she is on the way back," said trainer John Gosden.
