Brilliant at a mile, Desert Flower can become the 50th 3-year-old filly to complete the English 1000 Guineas and English Oaks double if she can handle the longer distance of the Group 1 Oaks on Friday at Epsom Downs.
Trained by Charlie Appleby for Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin Racing, Desert Flower won her 3-year-old debut with a one-length win as the even-money favorite in the English 1000 Guineas at a mile on May 4 at Newmarket. The win extended her undefeated record to five races, all at seven furlongs or a mile.
In the English Oaks at 1 1/2 miles, Desert Flower, who tends to run on or near the lead, will face a test of stamina on Epsom’s undulating course, which has a stiff uphill finish.
Desert Flower, who will be ridden by William Buick, is part of a field of nine in the $746,600 English Oaks and has drawn the inside post.
The Oaks at Epsom dates to 1779. Love, in 2020, is the most recent runner to win both the Guineas and Oaks and the third to do it in this century.
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Love was trained by Aidan O’Brien, who this year has three runners with Giselle, Minnie Hauk, and Whirl. While Desert Flower was the 5-4 favorite in early betting Wednesday with British bookmakers, Minnie Hauk was 4-1 and rated as O’Brien’s leading chance.
Minnie Hauk has won 2 of 3 starts, including her 3-year-old debut in the Cheshire Oaks at 1 7/16 miles at Chester Racecourse in England on May 7. She is another filly who tends to run near the front and will be ridden by Ryan Moore, who rides first call for O’Brien.
Minnie Hauk earlier this week was 6-1, a price that has tightened with steady support.
Giselle won the Oaks Trial Stakes by nine lengths against two rivals at 1 7/16 miles at Lingfield Racecourse near London on May 10 in her first start of the year. Giselle, a winner of 2 of 4 starts, is by Frankel and out of Newspaperofrecord, winner of the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Churchill Downs and Grade 1 Just a Game Stakes at Belmont Park in 2020.
Whirl won the Group 3 Musidora Stakes at 1 5/16 miles on May 14 at York, her third win in six starts.
Coronation Cup
Epsom has a seven-race program Friday, and the shortest price of the day will be French shipper Calandagan in the Group 1 Coronation Cup for 4-year-olds and up at 1 1/2 miles.
Calandagan, trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, was second in the Group 1 Sheema Classic at 1 1/2 miles in Dubai on April 5, his third consecutive second-place finish in a Group 1.
A winner of 4 of 9 starts, Calandagan won the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes at 1 1/2 miles for 3-year-olds at Royal Ascot last June, his third consecutive stakes win.
Calandagan, owned by the estate of the late Aga Khan, was 4-6 in early betting for the $610,800 Coronation Cup, which drew a field of seven.
The O’Brien-trained Jan Brueghel and Giavellotto, trained by Marco Botti, have excellent chances.
Jan Brueghel was beaten for the first time in his fifth start when second in the Group 3 Alleged Stakes at The Curragh in Ireland on April 12.
Giavellotto won the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin in December and was fifth in the Sheema Classic.
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