O’Brien eager to take on Hauk again with Wemightakedlongway

Joseph O’Brien is keen to let Wemightakedlongway have another crack at red-hot Juddmonte Irish Oaks favourite Minnie Hauk at the Curragh on Saturday.

The pair met in a Cork maiden last October when Wemightakedlongway showed the benefit of her previous experience, beating Minnie Hauk on her debut by two and a half lengths.

Since then Wemightakedlongway has won one of her four outings, the Group Three Salsabil Stakes at Navan, while Minnie Hauk has so far emerged as the best of her generation, winning at Chester and following up in determined fashion in the Oaks at Epsom from stablemate Whirl.

The form of that race looks strong as Whirl has since beaten Kalpana in the Pretty Polly, a race in which Wemightakedlongway finished fourth.

“We are looking forward to running Wemightakedlongway,” the Piltown-based trainer said.

“There is some rain forecast and any rain that falls we think might help her chances in Saturday’s Juddmonte Irish Oaks.”

Minnie Hauk’s trainer Aidan O’Brien also runs Butterfly Wings, Island Hopping and Merrily, while the field is completed by Fozzy Stack’s Bay Colony and Johnny Murtagh’s Subsonic.