TODAY’S Juddmonte Irish Oaks (3.45) is a classic renewal, not quite in the quality sense of that word but in the typical sense.

You have the Oaks form through Savethelastdance, the Ribblesdale form through Warm Heart, Lumiere Rock and Bluestocking, and you have a mix and match from everywhere else, Azazat perhaps the most intriguing of the remainder.

What isn’t so typical is both the likelihood of soft ground - there is 11mm of rainfall forecast to hit the track today - and Aidan O’Brien’s recent record in the race - just one win in the last six renewals.

Of those six editions, three of the victors were British-trained, and today’s sole challenger from Britain is Ralph Beckett’s Bluestocking, who represents the sponsors, and bids to give her trainer and owners another classic victory at the Curragh following Westover last year.

The daughter of Camelot and Dermot Weld’s Matron Stakes winner Emulous has three and a quarter lengths to make up on Warm Heart and she has to do it on ground that her pedigree doesn’t really suggest she will appreciate. However, Beckett was in relatively confident humour when appraising her chance yesterday.

“I’ve always felt that she would be most effective if the ground was slower than good,” he told The Irish Field. “I think the rain is a positive for her and I think the Curragh will suit her well.

“In the Ribblesdale, she travelled strongly into the bend and didn’t quite get the gaps when we would have liked him but that’s life, that’s the nature of racing.

“When she was touched off by Warm Heart at Newbury, it was only her second start. She was pretty green that day and she learned plenty at Ascot. She has progressed with her racing and I’ve been very happy with her work at home.”

The rain that has and will fall at the Curragh will likely be positive for Savethelastdance, who was so impressive in similar conditions in the Cheshire Oaks. Speaking to Johnny Ward for the On The Wire podcast, Aidan O’Brien said: “We’re very happy with Savethelastdance. She might not have been in love with the ground at Epsom and we know she does handle dig in the ground very well.

“We always thought she would be better at the Curragh. She is a big, open, galloping filly. She keeps going and she is a very genuine filly. This has been her plan since Epsom.”

Warm Heart is viewed as her main danger. Regarding that daughter of Galileo, O’Brien added: “We were not sure about the mile and a half for Warm Heart (in the Ribblesdale) but she got it well and we were delighted with her.

“She seemed to step up by going to a mile and a half which is a big plus and that is why we left her in the Oaks. We had our eye on the Nassau but we thought we’ll see how she gets on here.”