Whirl not a certain Oaks runner despite breezing to Musidora win
Aidan O’Brien is one win away from an unprecedented clean sweep of the major Oaks and Derby trials at Chester, Lingfield, Leopardstown and York in the space of just eight days after Whirl, at 7-2, stayed on strongly to win the Musidora Stakes here on Wednesday by five-and-a-half lengths, a performance that saw her price for the Oaks at Epsom next month contract from 33-1 to a top price of just 10-1.
Whirl now joins her stable companions Minnie Hauk, last week’s Chester Oaks winner, and Giselle, who powered clear in Lingfield’s Oaks Trial four days ago, in the mix for the fillies’ Classic on 6 June, while stable companion Lake Victoria, who surrendered her unbeaten record behind Desert Flower, the current Oaks favourite, in the 1,000 Guineas earlier this month could also be in the reckoning.
Despite O’Brien’s irrepressible form in the recent trials, a sixth-place finish when favourite for her seasonal debut at the Curragh in April meant that Whirl was only the second-favourite on Wednesday, sent off at 7-2 behind Ralph Beckett’s Smoken, at 5-2, who eventually finished last of the six runners.
Whirl needed three runs to get off the mark as a two-year-old, however, and in her Classic season she required just two. Ryan Moore pushed her head in front over three furlongs out and Whirl was clear of her five rivals with a furlong to run, before extending her lead further on the run to the post.
Salisbury 1.55 Thunderous Love 2.25 Media Mogul 2.58 Baybe Driver 3.30 Dark Sorceress 4.03 Gladius 4.40 Club Class 5.15 Yellow Card
York 2.10 Jm Jungle (nap) 2.42 Blue For You (nb) 3.13 See The Fire 3.45 The Lion In Winter 4.18 Aesterius 4.55 Wise Approach 5.25 Anniversary
Perth 2.18 The Last Cloud 2.50 Peejaybee 3.21 Go Go Chicago 3.53 Kinbara Firstdraft 4.27 We Got Your Back 5.02 Connells Cross
Fontwell 5.35 The Secret Pearl 6.10 Thankyouandplease 6.40 Fortunate Fella 7.10 Decorated 7.40 Rocks Up Late 8.10 The Boss Bear
Kempton 6.00 Westridge 6.30 Gallivanted 7.00 Sea Poetry 7.30 Whizz By 8.00 Dash Of Azure 8.30 Arctic Dawn 9.00 Moel Arthur
Two of the last four Musidora winners – Soul Sister and Snowfall - have followed up in the Oaks, while another, Emily Upjohn, was touched off by a nose, and Whirl’s performance, on the bare form at least, was a match for anything that those fillies produced in their trial here. It was a slight surprise, then, to hear Michael Tabor, one of Whirl’s co-owners in the Coolmore syndicate, suggest afterwards that she is not a guaranteed runner at Epsom.
“I don’t think anyone expected that [performance], but Aidan seems to be able to do that, as we know,” Tabor said. “I don’t really think that Whirl is an Oaks filly. I think she’d probably get a mile-and-a-half, but over a mile-and-a-quarter, something like the Prix de Diane, I think, would be more suitable, but I haven’t discussed it with [co-owners] Derrick [Smith] or John [Magnier] or Aidan, so that’s just my thinking.”
Desert Flower, Charlie Appleby’s 1,000 Guineas winner, remains the clear 3-1 favourite for the Oaks, while Kevin Ryan’s Inisherin, the winner of the Duke Of York Stakes on Wednesday’s card, is priced up at around 8-1 for the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes, the feature race on the final day of Royal Ascot next month.
Attention here at York will now turn to O’Brien’s The Lion In Winter, the favourite for the Derby, as he makes his three-year-old debut as a likely odds-on chance for the Dante Stakes on Thursday. Victory for The Lion In Winter would give O’Brien a clean sweep in the five major Derby trials for the first time in his career.
Updated
So the state of play in the Oaks betting after the last of the recognised trials is:
3-1 Desert Flower
10-1 Whirl & Minnie Hauk
11-1 Falakeyah
12-1 Giselle
16-1 Dreamy & Ballet Slippers
18-1 Elwateen
20-1 bar
Desert Flower is unbeaten after five starts having taken the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket earlier this month, with Elwateen back in fourth.
Falakeyah landed the Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket the same afternoon:
Minnie Hauk was impressive in the Cheshire Oaks last week:
Giselle beat three rivals in the Lingfield Oaks Trial:
And now Whirl has powered clear in the Musidora:
The perfect ride from Ryan Moore 👏
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) May 14, 2025
Whirl with a convincing win in the Tattersalls Musidora Stakes 🏆#ITVRacing | #DanteFestival | @yorkracecourse pic.twitter.com/H5B7C5aP63
