Horse racing: Lingfield Classic trial fields hit by watering ban at course – live

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Ryan Moore told Oli Bell, ITV’s racecourse reporter, that the going was “good-to-firm, firm in places” on the way back to the unsaddling enclosure. He did well to keep a lid on Giselle as she raced keenly behind the steady pace in the opening half-mile, and while she strode well clear of her field from the two-pole, she will need to settle much better than that if she goes to the Oaks at Epsom on 6 June.

She was 20-1 for the Classic beforehand and the snap quotes from the bookies’ reps range from 10-1 to 14-1 now.

1.15 Lingfield result: Giselle powers clear in Oaks Trial

1. GISELLE 30-100 FAV, 2. Harpsichord 4.1

Giselle and Ryan Moore on their way to victory. Photograph: John Walton/PA

Off and running in the Lingfield Oaks Trial … Giselle is taken back to sit last of the three runners … she’s taking quite a hold as Love Talk sets a steady pace … Harpsichord is close behind and Giselle is still taking a strong hold in third … going to the top of the hill, no change in the order as they start the descent … they’re turning in, Giselle goes far side and they are three across the course … Giselle has the lead, she’s got this wrapped up, half a furlong out and she’s well clear … Giselle wins the Oaks Trial.

Big-money buy in the spotlight at Ascot

It’s not on the ITV schedule, but there’s also an interesting contest at the top of the Ascot card at 1.30, when Kia Joorabchian, football super-agent and ever-expanding owner – in terms of his string, not his waistline – will get a first indication of whether the £1.75m he shelled out for Celestial King at the Newmarket Breeze-Up sale in April was money well spent.

Celestial King has been backed as though good things are anticipated this morning and is trading at 6-4 from a top price of 7-4 overnight. Godolphin’s Military Code, the winner of his only start to date at Newmarket last month, is the 5-4 favourite.

Just under 15 minutes to the off in the opener here, and what is expected to be a somewhat one-sided Oaks Trial. Giselle is currently on offer at around 1-3 in the Lingfield betting ring.

It’s a Classic weekend in France, where the Poule d’Essai des Poulains French 2,000 Guineas) and Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1,000 Guineas) are on the card at Longchamp tomorrow, due off at 3.25BST and 4.05 BST respectively.

Up-and-coming trainer Ollie Sangster, who saddled both the second and third fillies home in last weekend’s 1,000 Guineas, will make another attempt to break his Classic duck when Celestial Orbit lines up for the fillies’ event.

She was second behind Zanzoun – who was a big fancy for this prior to being scratched with a minor setback earlier in the week – on her seasonal reappearance in the Nell Gwyn Stakes at Newmarket in April, and has picked up a useful draw near the rail in two.

“She’s been in great form since the Nell Gwyn and seems to have taken a nice step forward from that run,” Sangster said on Saturday.

“I think the mile will be a positive for her and we are happy with the draw we have out in Paris. It was good-to-soft when we declared and it will be interesting to see what it is like, as she wouldn’t want anything too quick. That would be a slight concern, but other than that it would be all systems go.”

Watering ban may have led to small Classic trial fields

A total of 10 runners for two recognised Classic trials with a total of £120,000 in the prize money pot is a disappointing turnout from Lingfield’s point of view – and three runners in the Oaks Trial particularly so – but it was hardly an advertisement in terms of attracting decent fields that the turf track was approved for use only on Tuesday, following an inspection by the British Horseracing Authority.

The course has been watering almost around the clock from the start of May to ensure safe ground, but was very much playing catch-up after the local water authority asked it to stop watering during one of the driest Aprils on record.

The course would have had the option of switching today’s card to the all-weather, but the whole point of Lingfield as a trial venue is that its turf track, with a downhill run to a sharpish left-hand turn, is a decent facsimile of what will face the Derby and Oaks runners when they descend towards Tattenham Corner at Epsom next month.

A switch to the Polytrack was avoided this time around but amid the uncertainty, it is not surprising that some trainers at least may have found alternative targets for their potential Classic contenders.

1.15 LINGFIELD, OAKS TRIAL FILLIES’ STAKES, 3YO, 1M 3F 133YD

The three-runner Oaks Trial revolves around Aidan O’Brien’s Giselle, who is bred in the purple – by Frankel out of Newspaperofrecord, a Breeders’ Cup winner on turf as a juvenile – and looked unlucky to be denied a Group Three win behind her stable companion, Whirl, on her final start at two at the Curragh last October. She’s in green colours on the outside, rather than the orange and blue she will be wearing today.

She was fourth across the line and subsequently promoted to third, and it seems as certain as these things can ever be that she will be much better over middle distances this season. Giselle is already no bigger than 20-1 for the Oaks next month, will go off at around 1-4 today and anything other than a comfortable success will be seen as a disappointment.

SELECTION: GISELLE

Preamble

Good afternoon from Lingfield Park in the leafy Surrey commuter belt, the latest stop on Flat racing’s long and winding road through the traditional Epsom Classic trials before attention turns to Leopardstown’s Derby Trial card on Sunday.

Lingfield’s Derby Trial, due off at 3.00, has been won by just two subsequent Epsom Classic winners this century, but Adayar, the 2021 Derby (and King George) winner finished second here, while Ambiente Friendly, an impressive winner of this trial 12 months ago, set off as the 9-2 second-favourite and was beaten only by a resurgent City Of Troy.

This year’s race has attracted a seven-strong field headed by two runners from Aidan O’Brien’s stable – Puppet Master and Stay True - and an interesting, lightly-raced colt from Ralph Beckett’s yard, Prince Of The Seas. Season-by-season, Beckett has been working his way towards the very top of the mountain in British Flat racing and he saddled two Oaks winners in six years between 2008 and 2013, but he has had just four runners in the Derby, all at double-figure odds, with Westover’s third place in 2022 currently as close as he has been to winner.

The Oaks Trial at 1.15, meanwhile, is all about O’Brien’s runner, Giselle, the 1-4 favourite in a field of just three runners. She is already top-priced at 20-1 for the Oaks already, will set off at around 1-4 and could well be at single-figure odds if she comes up with a performance to match the pre-publicity.

Elsewhere around the country today, the Victoria Cup Handicap at Ascot (2.40) will be the key race in many punters’ Yankees and Lucky 15s, and while the field of 18 – down from 19 at the final declarations – will be the smallest for 20 years, the bookies were still going 6-1 the field overnight.

And at Haydock, the annual mixed meeting – featuring races both on the Flat and over jumps – includes the Swinton Handicap Hurdle, a last hurrah for some useful two-mile handicap hurdlers before a well-deserved rest over the summer.

With seven meetings spread around the country and nine races in all on the ITV Racing schedule – picks for which are here, along with a recap on yesterday’s Chester Cup card. It is going to be a busy afternoon and you can follow the main action at Lingfield, Ascot, Haydock and elsewhere right here on the Guardian’s Saturday live blog.