2025 Epsom Oaks: Giselle, Elwateen have appeal at a price

TwinSpires.com’s British racing money-back offer is a great opportunity to get involved in the action across the pond. 

Running through Aug. 31, you can opt in, bet a horse to win in selected British races, and get up to $10 back if your selection finishes second (in a field of at least five runners). Complete details are available on the TwinSpires offer page.

Race 5, 11 a.m. ET: Epsom Oaks (G1)

Godolphin’s #1 Desert Flower (6-5) brings an unbeaten record into Friday’s Oaks (G1) at Epsom, where she’s heavily favored to complete a fillies’ classic double. The Charlie Appleby trainee opened her sophomore campaign with a front-running coup in the 1000 Guineas (G1), staying on in a manner suggesting that she wants to go further than a mile.

But will Desert Flower be as effective on the step up to 1 1/2 miles at Epsom? At the price, I’m tempted to take a stab in a different direction. And with the British racing money-back offer, we’ll have an insurance policy if our win flyer winds up second.

The most logical alternatives live at Ballydoyle. Although Ryan Moore is on #5 Minnie Hauk (4-1), I’ve got to stick with another Aidan O’Brien filly who’s been well regarded for her entire life.

#3 Giselle (7-1) is a daughter of Frankel and multiple Grade 1 heroine Newspaperofrecord, perhaps best remembered for her unbeaten freshman season capped by the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf (G1). It’s a measure of her reputation that Giselle has gone off as the favorite in her four previous starts.

Odds-on in her unveiling at Leopardstown last June, the Coolmore/Peter Brant homebred had a trickier passage than stablemate Bedtime Story. Giselle settled for second, but the form got a spectacular boost when Bedtime Story came back to trounce males in the Chesham S. at Royal Ascot. 

Fans eagerly anticipating Giselle’s next start had to wait another four months, but she broke her maiden in that fall follow-up at the Curragh. She made her stakes debut in the Staffordstown Stud (aka Silken Glider) (G3) and finished third to the far more experienced #9 Whirl (7-1). Yet O’Brien was delighted with Giselle’s effort in defeat, explaining that it was all about teaching her. Whirl has since dominated her Oaks prep, the Musidora (G3).

Giselle resurfaced in the 1 7/16-mile Lingfield Oaks Trial and dismissed two overmatched rivals. Wearing a hood for the first time, she surged past them and drew off by nine lengths. If it doesn’t offer any meaningful form clues, her prep romp does establish her stamina and ability to cope with a sharp, undulating left-handed circuit (although she did keep changing her legs). 

Like the at-times headstrong Newspaperofrecord, Giselle has to learn to relax and harness her energy sensibly. Epsom will test her ability to settle, but if she’s taking her lessons to heart, she could be poised for a new career high. Colin Keane picks up the spare ride on a filly sure to take a leap forward, sooner or later.

The “each-way” value could be #2 Elwateen (10-1), a sneaky fourth to Desert Flower in the 1000 Guineas. Trained by Saeed bin Suroor for Shadwell, the homebred was making just her second career start, and first on turf, in that Newmarket classic. Elwateen had not raced since her gutsy premiere over Kempton’s Polytrack last August, when she pulled out extra to win going away.

Aside from the inherent promise that she showed in her ambitious Guineas attempt, Elwateen has pedigree appeal. She’s by Dubawi and out of Shadwell’s talented Tawkeel, who won her first five career starts, including the 2020 Prix Saint-Alary (G1) and Prix de la Nonette (G2). Her lone loss came in her career finale, a fourth to future Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) star Tarnawa in the Prix de l’Opera (G1).

Elwateen was supplemented for the Oaks, underscoring connections’ confidence in her ability. Bred to go a lot further, with broodmare sire Teofilo a conduit of stamina, she should stay the trip. Her unflinching attitude will also serve her well, and I’d expect her to crack the top three.