Dual Oaks heroine Minnie Hauk seals Group 1 hat-trick
Minnie Hauk (3 f Frankel – Multilingual by Dansili) stormed to victory to land the Yorkshire Oaks (Gr 1, 1m 4f) and provide Aidan O’Brien with his fifth triumph in six previous years.
Sent off as 8-15 favourite in the four-runner contest, the daughter of Frankel (Galileo) pulled clear of Estrange, while her stablemate Garden Of Eden (Saxon Warrior) finished in third ahead of Qilin Queen (Pinatubo).
It’s a third successive top-level success for Minnie Hauk, who landed the Oaks at Epsom (Gr 1, 1m 4f) and the Irish Oaks (Gr 1, 1m 4f) at the Curragh. She was immediately cut to 8-1 (from 10) with Paddy Power for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr 1, 2400m) following her three-and-a-half-length win.
Speaking to ITV Racing, O’Brien, who now has a record-equalling nine wins in the Yorkshire Oaks, said: “She’s beautiful and she does everything right. She cruises and she’s a lovely mover, and obviously the Arc and the Breeders’ Cup Turf are there for her.
“A lot of people have done a lot to look after her, so I appreciate everyone’s hard work and I’m delighted.
“Ryan gave her a class ride and he was very cool on her. She’s classy and it was a very confident ride. It wasn’t going to be a micky mouse race, they were going to go an even gallop without going crazy.”
It was a fifth Yorkshire Oaks for Ryan Moore, who added: “She’s very high class and her record indicates how classy she is. It was fairly straightforward and she travelled into it very well. She doesn’t do a whole lot at the front, but when you ask her she finds.”
Bred by the Sangster family, Minnie Hauk was purchased by M V Magnier for €1.85 million out of Camas Park Stud at the 2023 Goffs Orby Yearling Sale and races for a partnership that includes Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor.
A half-sister to the Group 2 winner Tilsit (First Defence), she is the sixth foal out of Multilingual (Dansili). Multilingual is a sister to Group 3 winner Remote and a half-sister to Group 1-winning miler and Juddmonte Farms stallion Kingman (Invincible Spirit), being out of the French 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Zenda (Zamindar).