Felicitas throws her hat into the ring for Oaks challenge
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Fri 24 Apr 2026
Ed Walker is dreaming of a tilt at the Oaks after Felicitas remained unbeaten with an impressive display at Sandown.
The Lingfield winner was sent off at 11-1 in the hands of Kieran Shoemark and looked full of class as she came home three lengths clear of runner up Ribbon Of Sea.
Her trainer is now inclined to head to York for the Musidora and is daring to think big after the daughter of Teofilo was cut to as short as 12-1 by Coral and Ladbrokes for Classic success at Epsom.
Walker said: “She’s really exciting and has been foot-perfect so far. She’s still a little bit green and babyish and a work in progress, but that was pretty impressive.
“This was always the plan after her debut, but when we looked at the entries it looked like running in a stakes race without black type. I half-wondered should we look for a stakes race, but I’m glad we stuck to our guns and were not put off by some of the fancy entries.
“It’s her first run on grass and she’s learned a lot and hopefully not had too hard a race.”
He went on: “I think the Musidora is the obvious place for her now. I probably saw her as a 10-furlong filly until today, but Kieran has got off and said she was eating the ground up and not stopping and when he pulled her out and said go, she was never getting beat.
“She puts her head down and gallops and she’s exciting and I think we’ll try to get her to Epsom.”
It was a fine afternoon for Walker, Shoemark and owners TBT Racing who also landed the opening bet365 Handicap with Black Star Boy.
The son of Starman also appeared to book his ticket to bigger days and having been deemed good enough to run at Listed level at two and could end up competing in good company again this term after striking at 9-1.
The Lambourn handler was eyeing a trip to Royal Ascot for the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes, but may now aim even higher.
Walker said: “He’s another good advert for his sire and an absolute beast of a horse with a great temperament. He’s very fast on his dam’s side as well so he was always going to be a sprinter, looks like a sprinter and he had been working very well at home.
“He got very upset in the stalls at York and then came out with his tail on fire and pulled like a train, never got any cover and it was ugly. Today went really well, Kieran gave him the perfect ride and he’s an exciting sprinter.
“The Palace of Holyroodhouse was always the plan, but we’ll see what the handicapper does. I was quite impressed with him today.
“We stuck him in a Listed race last year because we thought he was of that class. Do we go the Sandy Lane (at Haydock) and have a go? We’ll see what the handicapper does.”
Hugo Palmer was delighted to see Laureate Crown serve a further reminder of the talent he hinted at as a juvenile when coming with a late run to claim the bet365 Esher Cup Handicap in the hands of champion jockey Oisin Murphy.
The 7-1 scorer could now try to land a hat-trick in Haydock’s Silver Bowl Handicap on May 23.
Palmer said: “He’s a horse we loved last year and you can probably tell that from how we campaigned him. He’s a big horse and was just a bit too weak to do at race pace what we thought he was capable of from what we had seen at home.
“A winter on his back has seen him do really well physically and I think gelding him has really helped as well. I’m delighted to see this.
“Originally the dream was he would be a Britannia horse, but after he won at Wolverhampton, Oisin was adamant he needed to go round a bend.
“We’ve got one eye on the Silver Bowl at Haydock, but he doesn’t want ground any quicker than good. If it’s quick round the bend he might struggle. If Haydock came up with cut in the ground, I would say that’s where we would go – it’s grim up north isn’t it!”
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