Playful Act Can Outgun Oaks Rivals

After Eswarah did me such a good turn when landing the Oaks at Epsom in June, opposing her in Wednesday's Aston Upthorpe Yorkshire Oaks at York (3.05) is not a decision I've taken lightly. However, Michael Jarvis' charge may appeared to blow up three furlongs out when coming home a well-beaten eighth in the King George VI Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, and there's a chance that she may not have recovered from those exertions and, consequently, is worth taking on with Playful Act, who hails from the bang in-form John Gosden stable. Eswarah's effort in the King George was bizarre, because she came there seemingly full of running just over three furlongs out, but her effort petered out disconcertingly quickly. It may be that she had a blip there, as she did seem to get quite worked up in the preliminaries, but there is a suspicion that she may still be feeling the effects of her Epsom heroics and, as a result, may need more time. This theory is backed up by the stats: only one horse in the last decade, Ramruma in 1999, has won the Oaks at Epsom and the Yorkshire Oaks in the same season. On the other hand, Playful Act has had a light campaign thus far, winning the Lancashire Oaks in dogged fashion on her seasonal reappearance before finishing five lengths second to Shawanda in the Irish Oaks at The Curragh where she was nicely clear of the rest. Although firmly put in her place there, Playful Act lost no caste in defeat as the winner looks like a potential world-beater. Moreover, the daughter of Sadler's Wells may still be coming to hand, and the prospect of good ground on the Knavesmire on Wednesday will enhance her prospects further. Playful Act was the leading juvenile filly last season, and capped a superb campaign by beating the top-class Maids Causeway by a length in the Group One Fillies' Mile at Ascot in September, a performance which marked her out as a filly out of the top drawer. The selection had Right Key back in fourth and Dash To The Top in fifth at the Curragh, and it's hard to envisage either of those rivals reversing the placings on the same terms. Unbeaten German filly Iota and French raider Shamdala are hard to evaluate, although the latter hails from the same stable as Shawanda, that of Alain de Royer-Dupre, therefore it is interesting that she has pitched into Group One company following her victory in a Listed contest Longchamp last time, as the trainer will have a good idea of how Shamdala should acquit herself, using the Irish Oaks winner as a benchmark. As such, she merits respect. Iota, meanwhile, impressed when running out a four length winner of the German Oaks and, given that that was just her second career start, it would be filly to write her off. However, that form has not been well advertised subsequently and both of her two career starts have been on soft going, which she appears to relish, so the forecasted good ground (perhaps good to firm in places if no rain arrives) raises a real question mark over the daughter of Tiger Hill. The three four-year-old fillies, Hazarayia, Lune d'Or and Punctilious, are all decent in their own right, although they are all relatively exposed and may be playing for places at best, while Aunt Julia and Favourita look out of their depth.