Ben Linfoot on Cazoo Oaks day as Snowfall saunters to record win
People are back – but in the macs
Oaks day. It was good to see Epsom Downs. It was good to see the Queen’s Stand full of people, 4000 racegoers adding so much. Because of them it was good to see the burger vans, the coffee stands and the green Italian treats truck.
It was good to pass through the Lester Piggott gates and good to see the statue of Generous. It was good to see the trumpets and the bearskins. It was good to see the plastic pint pots with varying amounts of lager in them. People are back, in respectively tiny numbers, but it’s so good to see.
It wasn’t good to see persistent rain fall throughout the day. Sales of gelato were non-existent and the 4000 quickly found cover, meaning you could walk through Epsom as if it were empty.
A quick stroll around and you can’t miss the new sponsors, Cazoo, a modern sponsor for the modern Derby. Their smashed avocado and burnt orange branding was everywhere – and it was good to see the complimentary brolly.
The ground was Good, Good to Firm in places as dawn broke but after the first race that was changed to Good to Soft and the winning jockey, Mark Crehan, immediately described it as soft; “they’re getting their toe in alright,” he beamed on Zoom.
Steady and prolonged rainfall on watered ground was the cause but criticism of clerk of the course Andrew Cooper is unfair. I can confirm the uncertainty of the weather forecast – you are listening to a man who packed neither a vest or a coat despite having a wardrobe full of both – and such a wet day was not on anyone’s radar.
It made the Cazoo Oaks a very different test to the one it looked like it might be at declaration time. This was a day for heart and guts and staying power - and the ability to handle the conditions...
Snow joke as Frankie and Aidan team up again
Seeing is believing. And never have we waited as long to see which filly finished second in the Oaks. SNOWFALL by 16 lengths still brings a shake of the head as I type it half an hour later, her domination unprecedented in any Epsom Classic.
The aftermath came against the backdrop of stunned faces. Arms outstretched, sporting a smile that could span Tattenham Corner, Frankie Dettori trotted back on board the victorious filly, lapping up the attention that he has been denied this past year.
Dettori is 50 years old now. If you’d forgotten he shouted ‘Come on! I’m 50!’ as he pulled down the mask to speak to Rishi Persad. He only turns up for the big gigs these days, but he’s won a Chester Cup, a Lockinge and an Oaks in the last month and has another date with destiny on John Leeper on Saturday.
Perhaps they went too quick in the soft ground. Maybe Snowfall, by Deep Impact, handled the ground better than the rest – his other progeny we’re familiar with on these shores, Saxon Warrior and Fancy Blue, handled the mud well.
But in the end it looks like we’re simply dealing with a very special filly here. And having just enjoyed the career of Enable, dual Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and triple King George-winning Enable, what better man to ask than Dettori if Snowfall is the real deal.
“She’s dead good,” was the parting assessment. Before that he said: “I’ve won many Classics, but none as easy as this one. I had it won coming round Tattenham Corner. It was like cowboys and Indians and I was the cowboy with the gun. Two question marks today were the ground and the distance, but she stayed well and she handled the ground.
“Enable was very good, she did the Irish Oaks the King George, the Arc – and I wouldn’t put it past her. It was like a hot knife going through butter.”
It was Dettori’s 21st Classic, equalling Fred Archer. It was Aidan O’Brien’s 40th British Classic, equalling 19th century trainer John Scott.
On Saturday he might well have the record for the number of British Classic wins out on his own – but there are reasons for concern over Bolshoi Ballet’s Derby bid.
“I don’t think it will be ideal for any good ground horse but he’s fit and he’s well,” O’Brien reasoned in the Oaks press conference. “He was very impressive on goodish ground last year and went to France on very bad ground. For me in France he did cope with it, he wasn’t beaten that far, what we saw there is encouraging.”
Encouraging could be the word used for his Santa Barbara after her fifth in the Oaks. She travelled up well but faltered late on in the conditions, O’Brien suggesting she’ll drop back to 10 furlongs next time.
Not that it will make it any easier for Ryan Moore to stomach after being on the wrong one again. He’s due a change of luck, but at least he can’t possibly have picked the wrong one in the Derby.
Emotional Dwyer Pyles on the pressure
“Half my worry was losing the ride on him,” says Martin Dwyer, only half-jokingly after he’d ridden his father-in-law William Muir’s PYLEDRIVER to Coral Coronation Cup glory after a rousing far-side battle with Jim Crowley and Al Aasy.
“Obviously things didn’t go to plan in the Derby and people start saying ‘why don’t you get X, Y, Z to ride’ and you feel the pressure, but that’s sport. If you’re not fashionable as a jockey it’s hard to get rides, so when it comes right in a big race it means a bit more.
“You have to fight your corner. I don’t know what came over me but I got a bit emotional.”
Dwyer has completed the Group One hat-trick at Epsom now, adding the Coronation Cup to his Oaks win aboard Casual Look in 2003 and Derby victory on Sir Percy in 2006.
And while this was hardly a last-gasp lunge Sir Percy style, there was a concerted effort from him to bag the far rail and that helped keep this sometimes wayward colt stay straight and true.
“I love this place, I always have, I’ve had some great times here,” Dwyer went on. “You can’t take anything for granted on this racetrack but that makes it special when you win.
“I wanted to get the rail because I thought they could only come at me from one side. Jim challenged me and pressed me hard but my horse dug deep and got back up. He’s so tough.”
Muir started training in 1990 and this was his first Group One winner, a quick win for his partnership with Chris Grassick, achieved with a horse bought for £10,000 who stalled in his Classic bids last year both in the Derby and in the St Leger.
He looks much more like the finished article now, though, and the guts he showed to see off Al Aasy after a prolonged head-to-head in the final furlong shouldn’t be underestimated in future contests, although the runner-up’s part in the drama shouldn’t be forgotten.
Beaten a neck with the pair seven lengths clear, there will be other days for Al Aasy. Crowley said he ‘lugged down the camber a bit’ but he ran a stormer and his attitude shouldn’t be questioned. I’d wager he’s got a Group One in him at some stage.
Boughey juveniles simply unstoppable
The day had begun with George Boughey winning a two-year-old race – no shocks - and he’s now a simply staggering 14 from 31 at 45% in 2021 with his juveniles.
Navello had looked his best but opinion will have to be changed now after OSCULA bounded clear to win the Cazoo Woodcote EBF Stakes by three lengths in nice style.
The Galileo Gold filly was quoted at 8/1 by Betfair Sportsbook and Paddy Power for the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot and Boughey confirmed afterwards that race will be strongly considered.
Boughey’s plan to get her used to the sloping track at Brighton worked wonders and jockey Crehan was effusive in his praise afterwards – for both trainer and filly.
“She’s very very good,” he said. “She’s like an older horse, nothing bothers her. She doesn’t bat an eye.
“She handled Brighton well and that was the idea, if she handles Brighton she’ll handle Epsom and that’s how it worked out. Fair play to George. She takes some pegging back and she just keeps finding for you.”
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