A deep field contests Saturday’s (18 July) G1 Irish Oaks (2400m) at the Curragh with Thundering On looking to land the English/Irish Oaks double after her scintillating victory at Epsom last month.

Three fillies – Inis Mor, Rebel Moon and Sparan Nua – have each been supplemented at a fee of €50,000 (approx. HK$448,000) and will line up against much-respected Newmarket challenger Earth Shot, as well as five challengers from Aidan O’Brien’s stable, making this one of the strongest editions of the Irish Fillies Classic, first run in 1895.

One of the most striking performances of the season came when Thundering On swept past her rivals from last place with Dylan Browne McMonagle barely having to move a muscle before the pair surged clear in Epsom’s G1 Oaks (2405m).

But her subsequent defeat against her elders here in the G1 Pretty Polly Stakes (2000m) – two-and-a-half lengths fourth behind Estrange – on much faster ground and dropping back to 2000m will encourage the hopes of her rivals, especially as Saturday’s ground at the Curragh – though well-watered – is expected to be on the quick side.

Thundering On’s trainer Joseph O’Brien said: “We will be watching the weather, but the filly has been in very good shape since the Pretty Polly.”

Victory for James Doyle’s mount Earth Shot would cap a memorable week for trainer William Haggas following the thrilling last-stride victory of Maltese Cross in France’s most prestigious mid-summer Group 1, Tuesday’s Grand Prix de Paris (2400m) at ParisLongchamp.

Earth Shot stepped up in class and to a similar trip to this when – despite having to challenge wide – she delivered a late winning surge in the G2 Ribblesdale Stakes (2392m) at Royal Ascot, just defeating Johanna Walsh, who reopposes on Saturday under first-time rider Colin Keane.

That was Earth Shot’s fourth career start, and she is proving an astute buy for big-spending owners Wathnan Racing. Haggas said: “A loose horse made things complicated in the Ribblesdale, but Earth Shot did it well. She proved very genuine when she put her head down and also showed that she stays this trip – both good ingredients for Saturday.”

The ground was fast at Ascot, and like Thundering On’s supporters, Haggas said that a slower surface would be ideal.

Veteran trainer Jim Bolger, who first won the Irish Oaks in 1983, bids to add a third success in the Classic with the unbeaten Sparan Nua. She has won each of her three starts, most recently finishing strongly to land the G3 Munster Oaks Stakes (2400m) at Cork last month. Victory on Saturday would also end Bolger’s five-year wait for European Group 1 success and further enhance the reputation of the 84-year-old master trainer.

Bolger said of Declan McDonogh’s mount: “Sparan Nua was too weak to do anything with last season, but she’s much stronger now and I think she will keep improving for some time. She wouldn’t be as well practised as the other two Irish Oaks winners I trained and she’s still at the experimental stage, but she stays well and I would say that she has an each-way chance.”

Ryan Moore partners Amelia Earhart – in cheekpieces for the first time – and she looks the best chance of giving Aidan O’Brien his ninth victory in the Irish Classic.

The G1 Irish Oaks (2400m) is carded as S1-7 and will be run at 11.35pm (Hong Kong time) on Saturday, 18 July.

Photo: Healy Racing