Dubai: Taghrooda puts her lofty reputation on the line when she bids for a third successive Group 1 victory of the season in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks, the highlight of the second day of York’s Ebor meeting.
An effortless winner of both the Oaks at Epsom in June and the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot at the end of July, Taghrooda is a short priced favourite to defend her unbeaten record and give her trainer John Gosden back-to-back wins in the 2,400-metre contest following The Fugue 12 months ago.
A Shadwell homebred from Sea The Stars’ first crop, Taghrooda will also bid to gift her owner Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, with a first Torkshire Oaks trophy.
She will face six rivals, including the Aidan O’Brien pair of Tapestry and Venus De Milo, as well as last year’s Oaks winner Talent, but Angus Gold, racing manager to Shaikh Hamdan, believes that she can assert her class and complete the Group 1 hat-trick.
“Taghrooda is in good form and everyone is very happy with her,” Gold said in a press release.
“As we have already seen, she has got a great temperament, she settles well and stays well and if it came down to it, Paul [Hanagan] could make the running himself. I don’t think that it will be tactics that get her beat — she could do it from the front if necessary.
“I don’t think that the ground will be a problem on Thursday. Taghrooda does not want it rock hard but anything other than that will be fine for her.”
Hanagan, who partnered Taghrooda to both her Group 1 wins, said he was “looking forward to this for a long time.”
“York is one of the best [tracks], I had so much success there with Richard and to go with Taghrooda and show her off, it’s like giving something back to the crowd who’ve been so good to me over the years,” he told Racing UK.
“You have to keep pinching yourself, how lucky I am to be associated with such a good filly.
“It’s down to Shaikh Hamdan if she goes to the Arc, but it would be great to see her go there. She’s an unbeaten filly, she’s won the Oaks, the King George and hopefully the Yorkshire Oaks, it would be great for the game.”
