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The beautifully bred Rubies Are Red will be looking to uphold family honour with success in the Epsom Oaks.
Whilst dam Red Evie and full-sister Found never tasted success in the Epsom Classic, both were multiple Group 1 winners in their own right – Red Evie took the Matron Stakes and the Lockinge, whilst Found's accolades spread across multiple seasons, culminating in a Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe success in 2016.
"Rubies Are Red is unusual in that she is a sister to Found (the 2016 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner). She had a run last year and surprised us – she was third and then this year she went to Leopardstown and one of Joseph's beat her," said O'Brien, speaking at a media morning organised by the Jockey Club.
Rubies Are Red shaped as the eye-catcher when second in the Listed Oaks Trial Fillies' Stakes at Lingfield on Saturday, forced to make up significant ground in the closing stages to finish half-a-length second behind the winner You Got To Me.
"The plan had been to go to Lingfield so rather than going for another maiden we stuck with the plan. Ryan said she was very green at Lingfield, and he nursed her. Because of that, she got a long way back but when he straightened her up, she really came home well.
"She is definitely an Oaks-type filly. Her running style is like Found's in that she takes her time and comes late."
Rubies Are Red is not the only regally bred filly representing Ballydoyle in the Oaks, with 1000 Guineas fifth Ylang Ylang set to join her.
Bought for 1,500,000 gns at Tattersalls Book 1 Yearling Sale, the Frankel filly is the first foal out of Listed Pretty Polly Stakes winner Shambolic – a half-sister to Champion Older Horse in Hong Kong, Viva Pataca.
Winner of the Fillies Mile at Newmarket at the end of her juvenile campaign, Ylang Ylang shaped like a step up in trip would suit when making up late ground in the 1000 Guineas.
"We weren't sure whether Ylang Ylang would get the trip as she was keen and that is why her disappointing runs came in the middle," explained O'Brien.
"When we got her back and taught her how to relax, she was like a middle-distance filly and that is what she was like in the Guineas as well.
"We were very happy with her in the Guineas. We thought going to the Guineas that she was an Oaks filly given the way she had been working and that is how she ran. Ryan was very happy with her. He let her find her feet and he felt she came home very well.
"She won her first two races and then on her next two runs was a little bit keen and disappointed. Her run in the Moyglare was a shocker. She was able to reverse it when she got into the right mindset and I imagine some of the fillies that were behind her in the Guineas were ahead of her in the Moyglare, so it's amazing the way things can swing around."
