Find out which nine fillies remain in the running for Saturday's Irish Oaks at the Curragh

Nine fillies have been left standing at the preliminary entry stage in the Group 1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks (3.45) at the Curragh on Saturday with Aidan O'Brien accounting for five of the contenders including Epsom runner-up Savethelastdance and Ribblesdale winner Warm Heart.

Be Happy hasn't been seen since finishing second in an Oaks Trial at Lingfield last May and could line up, while Lambada and Library make up Ballydoyle's quintet.

O'Brien will be going for his seventh success in the Irish Classic and his five-strong team will seek to fend off some formidable competition as Ralph Beckett has elected to send over British raider Bluestocking, while Dermot Weld's Azazat also remains in contention.

Beckett's charge was an impressive winner of a Salisbury novice event on her only start as a juvenile before finishing just a head behind Warm Heart at Newbury over 1m2f back in May. The daughter of Camelot locked horns again with the Ballydoyle filly at Royal Ascot in the Ribblesdale Stakes but finished three and three-quarter lengths behind her in third.

Bluestocking will seek to become the first British-trained winner of the contest since John Gosden's Star Catcher was successful back in 2019.

Dermot Weld has already claimed one Irish Classic this season courtesy of Tahiyra in the 1000 Guineas and he will be hoping he can repeat the feat with another filly as he looks set to unleash the promising Azazat. The Aga Khan-owned three-year-old finished two and three-quarter lengths behind Savethelastdance in a Leopardstown maiden back in April but has since gone one better at that track before producing a high-class effort in last month's Group 3 Munster Oaks.

She finished runner-up on that occasion, beaten half a length by the 110-rated Rosscarbery who went on to finish an unlucky fourth in the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes. Weld will be aiming for his third Irish Oaks, and his first since Dance Design in 1996.

Joseph O'Brien's Lumiere Rock finished second in the Ribblesdale, splitting winner Warm Heart and Bluestocking. The Saxon Warrior filly could be set to take on those two rivals again at the weekend and is a Group 3 winning juvenile.

The Jim Bolger-trained Comhra also remains among the entries. She is already Classic-placed having finished third behind Tahiyra in the Irish 1000 Guineas and finished last of nine in the Pretty Polly Stakes earlier this month.

Paddy Power: 5-4 Savethelastdance, 9-4 Warm Heart, 5 Bluestocking, 8 Be Happy, Lumiere Rock, 12 Azazat, 20 Comhra, 25 Library, 66 Lambada

AzazatDermot Weld
Be HappyAidan O'Brien
BluestockingRalph Beckett
ComhraJim Bolger
LambadaAidan O'Brien
LibraryAidan O'Brien
Lumiere Rock Joseph O'Brien
SavethelastdanceAidan O'Brien
Warm Heart Aidan O'Brien

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