Aidan O’Brien is eagerly anticipating the Betfred Oaks (4.30) with his filly Savethelastdance, following her impressive 22-length victory in the Chester Oaks. Sectional times revealed that her performance was far from an optical illusion and the Ballydoyle maestro commented on how quick she had been; something he described as rare for a strongly run race. Savethelastdance is undoubtedly the top pick for the Classic with a starting price of 11-8 with Sky Bet. A field of 11 horses are confirmed for the race including John and Thady Gosden’s pair, Soul Sister and Running Lion.
Reflecting on her Cheshire Oaks victory, O’Brien said, “They went a good strong gallop and when you have a horse in a race who has a little bit of class, they can come through from behind like she did and win. But what was unusual with her was the way she went through the last two furlongs. She just kept accelerating and I think that makes it unusual, so we’re looking forward to the Oaks the same as everyone else.”
Savethelastdance has yet to encounter any ground without soft or heavy in the going description during her career, so there are some questions to answer regarding her suitability to a quicker surface. However, O’Brien thinks the quicker ground could be favourable, saying, “Most Galileos who we have had always wanted good ground and they wouldn’t be soft ground horses at all. And, with having Scat Daddy in her bloodline too, you would say she should be suited to it. It will be interesting to see.”
Discussing the prospect of a repeat of the recent Grand National protests causing delays for the Derby at Epsom on 5 June, O’Brien said, “It’s out of our control, but any delay would be a big negative. Things happen every day to test us all and you just have to make the best of a situation whatever way it has fallen. That’s all any of us can do really. It will be the same for everybody. Hopefully everybody will see sense and it won’t be like that, but all any of us can do is our best and hopefully everybody will see sense and look at the welfare of the animals and people and everybody first.”
As for his Derby team, O’Brien plans to arrive at Epsom 48 hours before the race, rather than on the day of the race as was the case with his Guineas team at Newmarket. He noted that the late travel arrangements had a detrimental effect on his Guineas teams and felt that arriving earlier for the Derby was the most sensible option.
