tracked winner, lost place 3f out, soon ridden, weakened over 1f out
traced leaders, driven and outpaced 3f out, soon ridden, weakend approaching final furlong
tracked leaders, driven and headway on outside 3f out, ridden and effort 2f out, drifted left and one pace final furlong
raced keenly, held up from behind, headway to chase winner 3f out, ridden to challenge over 1f out, no extra inside final furlong
made all, ridden over 1f out, driven and drew clear inside final furlong
held up in rear, outpaced over 3f out, soon beaten
A small but select field for this very important Oaks trial and with Aidan O'Brien back in classic business, Mona Lisa gets the vote ahead of Quickfire and Fuerta Ventura. The selection proved herself one of the top juvenile fillies last season when contesting some top events. The pick of her four outings was in the Fillies Mile at Ascot when she got into all sorts of problems but still managed to finish a close up fourth behind Playful Act. The form has been well advertised by Maids Causeway and so Mona Lisa will be hard to beat. Michael Stoute invariably has some top female talent in his yard and Quickfire has the potential to be another stable star. She improved on her debut run to beat Love Always in a decent race at Kempton and having only had two outings should have plenty of scope for improvement. Fuerta Ventura has made tremendous improvement over the winter and is chasing a four timer this season. This is a step up in class but she should be capable of getting into the action. Northern challenger Secret History is also in with a squeak, but with the stable back to top form Mona Lisa has to be the selection.
Fuerta Ventura (IRE) 11-4fav Tracked leader in 2nd, ridden to challenge early straight, slight advantage from 1 1/2f out, kept on well under pressure, won at Gowran Park 1m 1f hcp 60-92 hvy in Apr beating Oddshoes by a nk, 7 ran.
Mona Lisa 20-1 Hopped start,outrun, 11th of 12, 19l behind Sweet Catomine at Lone Star Park 1m 2yo fll Grp 1 std in Oct.
Play Me 33-1 Towards rear, pushed along on outer 3f out, kept on from 2f out, never nearer, 3rd of 16, 6l behind Eswarah at Newbury 1m 2f 3yo mdn fll gs in Apr.
Quickfire 8-13fav Slowly into stride, took keen hold in mid-division, ridden to lead over 2f out, hung badly left over 1f out, ran on under pressure close home, won at Kempton 7f 2yo mdn fll (D3) gf in Sept beating Love Always by 2l, 14 ran.
Secret History (USA) 5-2 Led, pushed along from 3f out, headed 1f out, rallied well to hold 2nd throughout final furlong, 2nd of 6, 2l behind Aldora at Goodwood 1m lst stk gd in Apr.
Treble Seven (USA) 16-1 Raced far side, chased leaders over 4f, 12th of 13, 17l behind Loyal Love at Newmarket 6f 2yo mdn fll (D2) gd in Oct.
