Juddmonte Irish Oaks report and replay: You Got To Me battles to victory
By David Ord
17:20 · SAT July 20, 2024
Ralph Beckett enjoyed another big day at the Curragh as You Got To Me (15/2) landed the Juddmonte Irish Oaks.
Winner of the Lingfield Oaks Trial and fourth in the Epsom Classic and the Ribblesdale on her last three starts, the well-backed daughter of Nathaniel showed great tenacity having been in front approaching the final furlong.
At that stage it looked as though eventual third Purple Lilly (9/1) was the big danger but in the end Ryan Moore and the 3/1 favourite Content were the ones to close late.
However under a strong Hector Crouch drive You Got To Me wasn't for catching, scoring by three-quarters-of-a-length.
She was following in the hoofprints of stablemate Bluestocking in tasting Group One glory at the track following the latter's success in last month's Pretty Polly Stakes.
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The winning rider told Racing TV: "She's a horse I have a lot of faith in, I've always thought she's very good. She probably hadn't quite lived up to it yet so for her to go and prove me right on the biggest stage, winning not only my first Group One but my first Classic, is an unbelievable feeling.
"I got knocked over coming out of the stalls. I'd wanted to go forward again but that made up my mind and I had to ride her where I was. I got a nice enough run round, edged off the fence with three furlongs to run, got on the back of James Doyle and had a smooth passage through the race from two-and-a-half down. Then it was just a case of was I good enough to hold on and she was very inch good enough.
"I thought the track here would suit her better, I'd think she'd be better on better ground still, but she did everything wrong at Ascot and couldn't possibly finish off after doing that and I'm just delighted for Ralph, Valmont and the Newsells Park team. A massive amount of work has gone into getting her to this point so a massive congratulations to them.
"That was the best she's raced for me relaxing wise and I'd like to think we're not done yet. She was very game. You get into racing and you dream of days like this. It takes an awful lot to get here so it's a massive shock."
A moment to savour for Hector Crouch
Beckett admitted the race had not gone entirely as planned, but praised Crouch for swiftly adapting his tactics. He said: “She was training well in the spring when perhaps we weren’t clicking, and she did it the hard way at Lingfield. It didn’t really work out in the Oaks and she went a bit hard in the Ribblesdale, 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.”
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