Desert Flower chasing more Classic glory as nine go forward for Oaks

A total of nine horses are in contention for the Betfred Oaks on Friday, with Desert Flower on track to bid for a Classic double.

The Charlie Appleby-trained daughter of Night Of Thunder took her unbeaten record to five in landing the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, her first start since ending her two-year-old campaign with victory in the Fillies’ Mile.

In fourth at Newmarket was Saeed bin Suroor’s Elwateen, running a big race on her second career start. She has been supplemented at a cost of £30,000 by her Shadwell connections, who as expected have taken out Falakeyah.

Aidan O’Brien has three leading chances of making it an 11th win in the Epsom showpiece, with trial winners Giselle and Minnie Hauk having looked good at Lingfield and Chester respectively while Whirl impressed at York.

The Betfred Coronation Cup on the same card features eight, headed by Francis-Henri Graffard’s Calandagan, whose last three starts have been runner-up finishes in the Juddmonte International, Champion Stakes and Dubai Sheema Classic.

Last year’s St Leger winner Jan Brueghel is one of the possibles for O’Brien, with Marco Botti’s Giavellotto another of note.