held up towards rear, good headway on wide outside 4f out, chased leading pair over 3f out, led over 2f out, ridden and pressed over 1f out, soon headed, stayed on same pace inside final furlong, well clear of 3rd
tracked leader until pushed along over 4f out, weakened rapidly, tailed off and eased
took keen hold in mid-division, lost place halfway, behind and pulled up 5f out
took keen hold, held up in rear, headway on wide outside over 3f out, ridden chasing leading pair just over 2f out, one pace and no chance with leading duo, kept on for clear 3rd
held up in rear, headway into mid-division 8f out, going for run on inside when badly hampered 4f out until switched left to rail over 3f out, headway soon after, went 2nd over 2f out, ridden to challenge over 1f out, led approaching final furlong, stayed on strongly
held up in touch, losing place when hampered over 3f out, no chance after
led until ridden and headed over 2f out, weakened and struggling in 5th 2f out, went modest 4th final strides
edgy and wore ear plugs in paddock, took keen hold, tracked leading pair until ridden unbalanced and weakened inside final 4f
The remarkable Classic-winning record of Aidan O'Brien suggests that the top handler and 'the lads' comfortably get more decisions right than wrong when it comes to big days out. The Ballydoyle operation fields three for The Oaks with MINDING (NAP) their number one seed. A dynamic juvenile and easy winner of the 1000 Guineas, she was just beaten by soft/heavy ground specialist Jet Setting in the Irish equivalent but still sets a daunting standard as she seeks a second English Classic. Clearly, some will be concerned about the short interval between races but we will rely on the Coolmore set to get things right and both Somehow and Seventh Heaven represent an excellent back-up squad for the operation having landed recognised trials in the Cheshire Oaks and Lingfield Oaks Trial respectively. Architecture was only narrowly beaten in the latter contest and is a definite improver who could run well at a price while Godolphin's decision to supplement Skiffle after her win in the Height of Fashion at Goodwood suggests she's highly thought of and there has been good money for her this week. Another Irish challenger to note is Turret Rocks, winner of the May Hill last term and a decent sixth behind Minding this season at Newmarket. She has plenty of ground to make up on the selection but should appreciate the extra half mile, although is yet to encounter anything worse than good ground.
Architecture (IRE) 11-4 (9-0) Broke well, soon tracking leaders, driven to lead over 1f out, strongly challenged inside final furlong, kept on, 2nd of 5, nk behind Seventh Heaven (9-0) at Lingfield 1m 3f lst fll stks (1) gd in May.
Australian Queen 66-1 (9-0) Held up towards rear, headway to chase leaders after 2f, effort over 2f out, weakened over 1f out, 5th of 7, 8 3/4l behind So Mi Dar (9-0) at York 1m 2f Grp 3 fll stks (1) gd in May.
Diamonds Pour Moi 6-1 (9-0) Keen tracked leaders, ridden and every chance inside final furlong, stayed on, 3rd of 8, 1l behind Somehow (9-0) at Chester 1m 3f lst fll (1) gd in May.
Harlequeen 7-1 (9-0) Took keen hold, held up up towards rear, outpaced over 4f out, stayed on well towards finish, 4th of 7, 4 1/4l behind So Mi Dar (9-0) at York 1m 2f Grp 3 fll stks (1) gd in May.
Minding (IRE) 4-11fav (9-0) Tracked leaders, 4th halfway, 2nd 2f out and ridden 1f out, under pressure and every chance final 100 yards, just failed, 2nd of 10, hd behind Jet Setting (9-0) at Curragh 1m Grp 1 (1) sft in May.
Seventh Heaven (IRE) 7-4fav (9-0) Always prominent, driven to challenge over 2f out, ridden to lead inside final furlong, stayed on well under pressure, won at Lingfield 1m 3f lst fll stks (1) gd in May beating Architecture (9-0) by nk, 5 ran.
Skiffle 5-1 (9-0) Towards rear, headway over 2f out, ridden over 1f out, kept on to lead towards finish, won at Goodwood 1m 2f lst fll stks (1) gd in May beating The Black Princess (9-0) by 1l, 9 ran.
Somehow (IRE) 8-15fav (9-0) Towards rear, pushed along 4f out, switched right and headway over 1f out, led inside final furlong, ridden and ran on, won at Chester 1m 3f lst fll (1) gd in May beating Moorside (9-0) by 1/2l, 8 ran.
Turret Rocks (IRE) 20-1 (9-0) Tracked leaders, joined leaders over 3f out, ridden 2f out, weakened inside final furlong, 6th of 16, 6 1/2l behind Minding (9-0) at Newmarket 1m Grp 1 fll stks (1) gd in May.
