‘Very little chance’ of fancied My Ophelia running in the Oaks

A patient approach has been backed to reap rewards, despite My Ophelia being described as having “very little chance” of appearing in the Betfred Oaks at Epsom next month.

William Haggas’ daughter of Wootton Bassett has seen the form of her impressive Newbury debut last October boosted by the runner-up and stablemate Earth Shot at Newmarket recently and is among the leading contenders of the fillies’ Classic.

However, after an interrupted preparation this spring and the recognised trials for the Oaks fast running out, a visit to Epsom on June 5 is looking increasingly unlikely.

“She had a little setback, it wasn’t anything too serious, but William just backed off her and then she got another small niggly problem,” explained Sean Graham, racing manager for Brighton & Hove Albion’s Tony Bloom, who owns the filly alongside Ian McAleavy.

“The great thing about William Haggas is he’s very patient with his horses and we’re more than happy to play it by ear with her.

“I think there is very little chance of running in the Oaks as we would want to get a prep race into her before that and I don’t think that is possible.

“The Oaks is around four or five weeks away and doesn’t give us much time to get a run into her, so I would say the Oaks is looking unlikely.”

The Oaks may prove too much of an assignment too soon, but connections are more than happy playing the long game with the 1.7million guineas yearling, well aware there are many other valuable prizes to be won not only later in this campaign, but also in the seasons to come.

Graham added: “We would probably look towards a Ribblesdale at Royal Ascot or Irish Oaks, but because the filly has only had one run in a maiden, ideally we would like to run her in a novice or a Listed race just to educate her a bit more before we properly step her up in class.

“It might be the case that we have to go straight to a Group race, but again we’ll leave plans to William and his team because he does such a good job with his horses and she will tell him when she’s ready.

“There’s only one Oaks, but there’s plenty of other good middle-distance races to be won with these fillies on the calendar and if you rush them and go for them too early, you could ruin the rest of the season. So we’re happy to play it slowly, slowly with her.

“We’ve seen William’s patient approach pay dividends with horses like Santorini Star and after giving her plenty of time and remaining patient, now we’re reaping the rewards with her.”