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Minnie Hauk battled to victory in resolute fashion to win the Juddmonte Irish Oaks and give trainer Aidan O’Brien a record-extending eighth triumph in the Irish Classic, writes Phil Campbell.

The 2/11 favourite dug deep to edge past Wemightakedlongway inside the final furlong as jockey Ryan Moore timed his charge on the leader to perfection to win by a length at the Curragh.

Minnie Hauk becomes the 16th filly to complete the English-Irish Oaks double after edging out Whirl at Epsom last month.

And the three-year-old also improves her impressive record to four wins from her five races, with the only blemish a second-place finish during her first-ever outing. 

The win also marks O’Brien’s third Irish Classic success of the year after Lake Victoria claimed the spoils in the Irish 1000 Guineas in May before Lambourn won the Irish Derby a month later.

Having missed out in the race last year following Content's second-place finish behind You Got To Me, O’Brien said after the result: “I’m delighted. The big team around her has made it happen. It’s great. She’s a lovely filly and we’re delighted with the run.

“The race wasn’t a fastly run race, which was good for both fillies because none of them had hard races, but Joseph [Patrick O’Brien] has a very good filly. She beat Minnie Hauk in her maiden as a two-year-old so very high-class fillies.”

Minnie Hauk proves too strong in the Group One Juddmonte Irish Oaks, pushed home by Ryan Moore for Aidan O'Brien, as her form goes from strength to strength 🏆@JuddmonteFarms | @curraghrace pic.twitter.com/psdPfvGipz

— Horse Racing Ireland (@HRIRacing) July 19, 2025

Minnie Hauk began the one-mile, four-furlong contest in composed fashion, settling into her rhythm in third place behind early leader Island Hopping and Wemightakedlongway in second.

That order remained as the field passed the halfway stage before Wemightakedlongway moved into the lead three furlongs out while Moore took Minnie Hauk to the outside in a bid to hit the front.

“We thought that she might sit second today, behind Wayne [Lordan – Island Hopping’s jockey],” said O’Brien about how the race unfolded.

“But Dylan [Browne McMonagle – Wemightakedlongway’s jockey] was on the outside of Ryan, so Ryan made the decision to pull back out of there and by on the outside of Dylan, rather than be trapped on the inside, because Dylan could have help him there as long as her wanted to, so that was the right decision.”

It was a move that ultimately proved fruitful as the 41-year-old guided Minnie Hauk into the lead with less than a furlong to go, with both horse and jockey showing their fighting qualities in the tight encounter.

As the finishing line approached, Minnie Hauk was a length clear to also hand Moore his fourth Irish Oaks victory after winning in 2010 aboard Snow Fairy, before his now hat-trick of victories with O’Brien having previously won with Snowfall in 2021 and Savethelastdance two years later.

"She's a good filly and she's going to go on to better things as well," Moore said post-race.

"We're learning about her, and she'll be better than this."

A decision must now be made about where the race Minnie Hauk next, as O’Brien added: “We were delighted with her, we just need to make a decision now.

“The boss asked Ryan after the race where will he go now with her, and Ryan said you could go to the Yorkshire Oaks. And the boss said to him should we give her a break now and train her for one of the Arc trial races. So that’s a possibility as well. We’ll have to decide in the next few days.”