Sixteen left in Irish Oaks
Snow Fairy will face a field of 15 at the Curragh on Sunday as she attempts to win her second Classic of the season.
Connections, as they had before she won the Oaks at Epsom, have paid a supplementary entry fee – in this case €42,500 (about £36,700) - for a similarly late entry for the Darley Irish Oaks for Snow Fairy who will be attempting to become the 13th filly to complete Oaks double. The first to the achieve victory in both races was Masaka in 1948 and the most recent was Sariska 12 months ago.
Even as he was making the entry Snow Fairy’s trainer, Ed Dunlop, was worried that his filly’s chances could be compromised by the rain that has hit the racecourse in recent days. The course received just over 30 millimetres of rain overnight and the ground at the Curragh is currently described as good on the round course and good to yielding on the straight.
Snow Fairy (pictured) faces the biggest field for an Irish Oaks since Lagunette won in 1976, but there is also quality to go with the quantity. From the Oaks there is Meeznah, who was beaten only a neck into second, and Remember When, who was another two lengths away in third. She is one of five Aidan-O’Brien-trained runners in the race and will be ridden by stable jockey Johnny Murtagh.
There is also a strong challenge from Hibaayeb and Eldalil, who finished first and second in the Group Two Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot last month, and Rosanara, a rare Irish runner for Alain de Royer-Dupre, who runner-up to stable companion Sarafina in the Prix de Diane last time out.
The last time that Overdose was seen on the track was April 2009 but the horse who is called the “Budapest Bullet” is scheduled to run in a five-furlong Listed race at Bratislava in Slovakia on Sunday, where he will be ridden for the first time by British jockey Gary Hind, who is now based in the Czech Republic.
Overdose, who is unbeaten in 12 career starts, has been out of action for 15 months due to a hoof injury and Paul Nicholls is hoping that he may also finally have got to the bottom of what may have been affecting Master Minded last season.
The dual winner of the Champion Chase, whose defeat in his first race of the season had been put down to the discovery of a fractured rib, had been the favourite to complete the hat-trick at the Cheltenham Festival in March. However he was under pressure before the third-last and was never really in contention at the finish as he came in nine-and-three-quarter lengths fourth to Big Zeb.
Speaking on At The Races, Nicholls said: “We had the problem with the fractured rib but I always felt there was more to it than that and there was always suspicions about his breathing.
“At the back end of last season, just after his last run at Cheltenham, I heard him cantering a couple of times and I was convinced he was making a noise. So we got the experts in to have a look and they agreed, so we decided to do a breathing operation on him.
“It could change him but then again it might not, we'll just have to see - hopefully it will help him. A couple of times he's run at Cheltenham he hasn't acted as well and sometimes that happens when they're struggling with their breathing.
“He was very impressive on a flatter track like Newbury and that seems to help them a bit. I'm not saying it's conclusive, but it was something we couldn't not do.”
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