Cazoo Derby Festival: Reaction from connections as Oaks contenders get first taste of Epsom
Three of the main protagonists for next week’s Cazoo Oaks had their first sighting of Epsom Downs racecourse on Monday and here are reactions of their connections ahead of the fillies Classic.
SAFFRON BEACH – JANE CHAPPLE-HYAM
“She was nice and relaxed. She was on the right lead and you would have to be happy with that. Getting her relaxed was the main thing. She gets her neck down low and stretches out and I was pleased to see that. It was very important she was on the correct lead leg as when they turn into the straight there is a camber and it takes them down to the far rail and you have to be aware of that.
“We are confident she will get the mile and a quarter it is just that extra two furlongs is unknown but we believe she will settle and race through it. Her breeding suggests she has to do to get the trip but all animals are different and she is strong and powerful and relaxed and well balanced. We are just here to give it a go.
“It is a big thrill to be part of this so let’s hope we can go there and do the best.”
MYSTERY ANGEL – GEORGE BOUGHEY
“I think the main thing we will be looking at is the opposition is and see how many go there. It looks open enough at the moment. The question mark is whether she gets the mile and a half. I think if the ground is like it is today we wouldn’t be running, but the forecast looks good and if it comes quicker her best performance was on quick ground and in an open year we would probably like to give it a go. It is certainly not decision made yet. I will speak to Nick later and we will see how she comes out of it. We would like to give it a go if she is well and the ground comes a bit quicker.
“She is a very well balanced filly. I didn’t really ask Ben (Curtis) to do a huge amount. It was more just to come and see the track and see how she came down the hill. She is a specialist at Newmarket where you have to handle going up and down. I’d hope she would handle it (Epsom Downs). She is a very straight forward filly.
She has been amazing. She was picked up for 22,000 guineas at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up sale last year. To have a chance to run in a Group One with a filly like her would be very special.”
OCEAN ROAD – HUGO PALMER
“It is very soft ground here today and I think she would be better on better ground but she has relished that. She seems to me to be doing what three year old fillies can do at this time of year which is improve very rapidly. She seems to be getting better and better with every week and you don’t know where their limits are going to be. She needs to find 20lbs on what she did at Lingfield to win an average Oaks but sometimes that is the sort of thing can happen and that is what we are dreaming might happen.
“She is an utterly beautiful filly to look at. She is exceptionally balanced and has beautiful depth. She really is a gorgeous filly. She is a half-sister to a dual Group One winner over a mile and a half in Wigmore Hall and she is by a Derby winner. When you have got all those things there this is the dream you are dreaming of right from the start. I’m always a glass half full kind of person and I try and dream what is the best a horse can be, then we go to Plan B to Z after Plan A hasn’t worked.
“She has got a lot to learn but I hope that she has learned and I hope that she has improved. Her work last week was very pleasing and I was pleased with what I saw there.”
