SAVETHELASTDANCE can grab victory in the Betfred Oaks (British Champions Series) (Fillies) (4.30pm) at Epsom on Friday afternoon.
Aidan O’Brien’s daughter of Galileo can provide the Ballydoyle maestro with an 11th victory in the Fillies’ Classic 25 years on from his first with Shahtoush in 1998. The Irish trainer has won the race with some of his finest fillies and Savethelastdance can put herself up there with O’Brien’s best and give him a fourth victory in a row following Love (2020), Snowfall (2021) and Tuesday (2022).
Savethelastdance had only run once as a juvenile, when finishing fifth in a mile maiden at Thurles last October. And although she has only run twice this season, she has taken that form to another level. She beat a better fancied rival in Boogie Woogie – who has won since and also finished sixth in the French 1,000 Guineas last weekend – on her seasonal return in a 1m2f maiden at Leopardstown. Savethelastdance scored comfortably by two-and-a-quarter lengths in testing conditions. But she improved markedly on that decent effort stepped up to a near 1m4f when scoring by an astonishing 22 lengths on similar soft conditions, despite being niggled early on, in the Listed Weathersby Digital Solutions Cheshire Oaks at last month’s Chester May Festival.
