Aidan O'Brien may not hold the ace but he has the king, queen, and jack and has shown time and again nobody plays this sort of hand better.
The trainer's record haul of 45 British classics includes 10 Epsom Oaks (G1), from Shahtoush in 1998 to Tuesday three years ago.
And while Godolphin's Desert Flower is the obvious favorite for this year's Epsom Oaks June 6, Ballydoyle has won Britain's three biggest trials for this race since her One Thousand Guineas (G1) success and will run them all against her here.
Shortest-priced of the trio—and Ryan Moore's chosen mount—is guaranteed stayer Minnie Hauk, who was a gutsy winner of the Cheshire Oaks over just short of this trip on her reappearance and is open to plenty of improvement after just three runs.
O'Brien said: "Minnie Hauk is a lovely, straightforward filly who we think has come forward loads since Chester. She came out that very well and is a good traveler who shows plenty of speed. We've always been very happy with her and we think she'll stay."
Whirl was impressive in landing the Musidora Stakes (G3) at York by more than five lengths, and initial doubts about whether or not she will see out the extra furlong and a half here have mostly faded.
"Whirl is also straightforward and got a mile and quarter well at York," O'Brien said. "She looked like she would maybe get further as she wasn't stopping. But a mile and a half is a different thing and you never know until you try."
Giselle is another whose stamina is not in doubt after her victory in the Lingfield Oaks Trial Fillies Stakes, but she was beaten more than a length by Whirl when the pair met at the Curragh last autumn. The daughter of 2018 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) winner Newspaperofrecord is the longest price of the trio.
"Giselle was keen through the winter and spring and wanted to do too much, so it was all about relaxing her," O'Brien said. "She was very underdone fitness-wise at Lingfield so we were delighted with her. We think she's come forward a lot and we've been able to train her more."
Queen to reign for Ed Walker?
Rarely can a trainer have gone into his bid to win a first classic in better form than Ed Walker, fresh from a stakes race treble within 70 minutes May 31.
That came 48 hours after stable star Almaqam won at Sandown and made it eight group or listed races victories by seven different horses for the trainer in May.
"It's hard to believe quite how well things are going at the moment," the trainer said in his Racing Post Weekender column.
But things could get even better if Newbury trial winner Qilin Queen lives up to expectations on Friday.
"I'm full of hope she can run a big race," Walker said. "Everything has gone fine with her since she won the trial at Newbury. She worked well on Saturday and she's in great nick.
"There are only nine fillies in the race and quite a few of those have stamina doubts, whereas she's a guaranteed stayer.
"She's got quite a lot of experience and she's not done much wrong. I don't think her odds reflect her prospects and I think she's got a really decent chance of running into the money."
