Snowfall blitzed her rivals to win the Cazoo Oaks by a record 16 lengths and provide Aidan O’Brien with his ninth win in the Classic.
Frankie Dettori weaved through the field aboard the daughter of Deep Impact, who powered clear of runner-up Mystery Angel. Her better-fancied stablemate Santa Barbara finished fifth of 14 runners.
The winning margin was a record for the Oaks, beating the previous best of 12 lengths by Sun Princess in 1983. The biggest winning margin in any British Classic is 20 lengths, recorded in 1859.
O’Brien equalled the all-time record of 40 British Classic winners held by trainer John Scott and set between 1827 and 1863. He also trains Bolshoi Ballet, favourite for the Cazoo Derby on Saturday.
“We thought she was very good last year and ran her in all the big races,” said O’Brien. “She’s got stronger over the winter.
“We’ve been over the moon with her at home since her impressive victory in the Musidora at York. We knew she had a lot of class coming here and Frankie gave her a good ride. She looks special.”
Snowfall was cut to 5-1 (from 20) by Paddy Power for the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown and shortened to 5-1 favourite (from 33) for the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October.
“They were going far too quick and I had the luxury of taking my goggles off with five furlongs to travel – I couldn’t believe it,” said Dettori, who equalled Fred Archer’s tally of 21 British Classics and admitted he had never ridden a more straightforward Classic winner.
“She went through the field like a hot knife through butter. I had everything beaten in front but was afraid of Santa Barbara. When I saw some daylight I thought ‘I’m going now’ and she took off.”
It was a sixth Oaks victory for Dettori and a second Classic of the season after winning last month’s 1,000 Guineas with Mother Earth.
The places were filled by big-priced runners with Mystery Angel sent off at 50-1 for in-form trainer George Boughey. She finished a length and three-quarters clear of 20-1 shot Divinely, trained by O’Brien, with 40-1 shot Save A Forest in fourth. ( font : RacingPost)
