Blue Bunting Prominent in Epsom Oaks

It's definitely shaping up to be one of the most exciting iterations of the Epsom Oaks in quite some time and not just because of the presence of Beatrice Aurore (Danehill Dancer) who is owned by Benny Andersson – a former member of Abba. The three-year-old bay filly declared her Oaks intentions when she scored by a length and a half in the Height of Fashion Stakes, which is a listed contest at Goodwood.

Priced at a general 23.0 on the exchange, she remains an outside shot for an Oaks that looks to be relatively open despite the presence of two or three very prominent contenders. Expect a significant amount of money on Beatrice Aurore, however, as she should enjoy each-way prominence.

Obviously the main contender going into this one is the highly-impressive Blue Bunting (Dynaformer) who turns out for Godolphin but is under the tutelage of Mahmood Al Zarooni – who generally plays Robin to Saeed Bin Suroor's Batman in races like this one. Not the case this time, however, and the greyish/roanish filly only has a solitary blemish on her card and that came in her career debut in a Newmarket maiden, missing by a full five lengths. She's been all business since then, however, and made a major step up when capturing the Qipco 1000 Guineas in her seasonal opener.

Frankie Dettori was up that day and the presence of the world-class jock certainly helped propel Blue Bunting into the reckoning. Her raw ability was shown that day at Newmarket and you can understand why she came out of the gate at 16s having not really contested anything at Group level. If she replicates that performance, and handles the distance of ground as much as she showed the aptitude for the last time out, then she warrants a shorter price than the rest – though some might balk at 2/1 as she must navigate four extra panels.

It really comes down to how much extra improvement we can expect her to make in her second seasonal start. Godolphin do well with these types and Al Zarooni knows what he's doing with her. Dettori taking the mount again officially would prompt a small price cut.

If you plan on backing Blue Bunting do it now because that price isn't getting any bigger unless there is a serious potential for withdrawal.

Cheshire Oaks winner Wonder of Wonders (Kingmambo) is second in the money and she only just broke her maiden this season on April 28. She went from maiden winner to Cheshire Oaks winner inside a week and the pair of scores this season boast a combined winner distance of nearly eight lengths. She showed significant improvement in her first two starts and there is a certain school of thought that thinks she'll be able to show just that much more here.  

Impeccably bred, she is by one of the leading sires in Europe and she is by a Saddler's Wells mare so you get a clear reference that 1m4f looks more than doable. You wonder how well she can do if things go right for her coming out of the gate.

Skybet has taken her into 7/2 this afternoon.