You Got To Me, the filly lovingly labelled “a nutter” by her jockey Hector Crouch emerged on top in an incident-packed Juddmonte Irish Oaks at the Curragh on Saturday.
Trained in England by Ralph Beckett, the 15-2 shot held on by three-parts of a length from the unlucky in running 3-1 favourite Content while Purple Lily finished third.
The biggest Oaks field in 14 years saw several runners endure traffic problems, none more so than Content who tailed the winner into the straight only for Ryan Moore to have to snatch up at a vital point.
As Crouch successfully navigated a passage through the pack for You Got To Me, Moore was forced to bide his time behind and although Content ultimately made light of her first step up to a mile and a half she ultimately ran out of ground.
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Fourth to Ezeliya in the Epsom Oaks, You Got To Me subsequently filled the same position behind Port Fairy in Royal Ascot’s Ribblesdale but considerable betting support was justified in style with classic glory.
It was a first Group One success for Crouch (27) who’d endured an unlucky passage himself in the preceding Sapphire Stakes on board Makarova, third to the Moore ridden winner, Believing.
“I’m a bit emotional to be honest, it means an awful lot. I’ve always had a tremendous amount of faith in her, she’s a bit of a nutter but when she’s good, she’s very good. I can’t believe it, it’s unbelievable.
“I got a nice enough run round and was able to edge off the fence with three to run and had a smooth enough passage from two and a half down. Then it was a case of whether she was good enough to hold on, and she was every inch good enough,” said the English rider.
It was a sweet success too for Beckett whose Bluestocking looked all over a winner of the race 12 months previously only to be denied by Savethelastdance’s late thrust.
Bluestocking returned to the Curragh three weeks previously to break her top-flight duck in the Pretty Polly Stakes while Westover previously landed the 2022 Irish Derby at HQ for the Hampshire trainer.
“It didn’t really work out in the Oaks and she went a bit hard in the Ribblesdale, a downhill start there over 12 furlongs at Ascot – it can happen there.
“A tongue strap on today probably helped, it just gave her something else to think about. Hector said he had to barge through everywhere to get a position and to keep his position. She’s a very brave filly.
“The plan was to be forward and kick on from the top of the hill but you always have to have a plan B. Hector is not a man that panics and he knew what was going to happen after five strides and rode a race to fit her,” Beckett commented.
The luckless Content couldn’t become the 100th individual Group/Grade One sired by the late Galileo but might yet pull off that milestone at some point this season judged on her first attempt at the trip.
Out of luck in the Oaks, Ryan Moore got the bounce of the ball in the following Comer Group Curragh Cup as Tower Of London dramatically overhauled his stable companion Grosvenor Square just metres from the line.
Grosvenor Square and jockey Gavin Ryan quickly established an early lead in the Group Two and looked to have slipped the field coming into the straight.
Vauban, the 11-8 favourite, was first to try and chase him down, but only Tower Of London managed to get to the 17-2 shot and ultimately even won with something in hand.
“I was thinking ‘don’t get there too soon!” Moore joked.
“He is a lovely, lovely horse and it was certainly made interesting. We let the leader have far too much rope. We want to make sure to ride him with a bit of confidence and to get him to finish his race today after his run at York.
“He was a great horse at the start of the year, and he is great fun. There is lots of options open for him,” he added.
Those options include a return to the Curragh in September for the Irish Leger as well as a possible trip down-under for the Melbourne Cup.
“Ryan gave him a peach. He could come back here for the Leger. He’s a great horse to have and can travel anywhere, he loves travelling. He could be a Melbourne Cup horse. He could be anything,” Aidan O’Brien said of the full brother to Irish Derby winner Capri.
Moore picked wrong in the opening maiden where Wayne Lordan partnered The Lion In Winter to an impressive debut success. Moore was third on the favourite Ides of March.
The son of Sea The Stars, a €375,000 yearling purchase, impressed O’Brien who said: “He’d been working lovely and you would have to be very happy with him. He has plenty of class and would have no trouble going up in trip.
“He was a bit green but finished out very well and looks a quality colt. Ryan said his horse is more fast than stamina so he might go back in trip.”
The Curragh specialist Big Gossey secured a sixth track victory in the €100,000 David Power Memorial Handicap, scoring for trainer Charles O’Brien.
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