Amelia Earhart tops an Aidan O’Brien trio as the Irishman pursues a 12th success in Friday’s Betfred Epsom Oaks, even if the filly named after the aviation pioneer presents as something of an enigma herself.O’Brien has won 111 major European Classics. Add in the Irish and French Legers open to older horses and the tally is 119. None of them sported the sort of headgear that Amelia Earhart does.In a counterintuitive move, O’Brien equipped her with both a hood and blinkers in last month’s Cheshire Oaks. One is designed to calm a horse, the other to hurry them along. It was a novel combination that worked. Not surprisingly, the novel fusion is retained for the Oaks proper.“Blinkers can sharpen up a horse up, but sometimes it also stops a horse from looking behind and she had a habit of always looking back. Obviously, then when you put the blinkers on you don’t want to light her up too much, so that’s why we had the hood on,” he has said.“We put them on just to stop her from looking back rather than her being ungenuine. A few times when she’s run without them, she’s not been looking in front of her and jinked and hit the rail.”Clearly a quirky filly, she has been judged reliable enough to be the main Ballydoyle hope, leaving no less than the Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Precise to sit it out on ground that looks set to be on the easy side.Sugar Island, fourth at Chester but proven to relish soft going, is in the mix too, alongside O’Brien’s Lingfield Trial winner Cameo.Amelia Earhart has topped betting lists for the Oaks since Chester despite official ratings having her joint-third among the nine runners. Venetian Lace got a 110 figure for her third in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket and Joseph O’Brien’s Thundering On is 107.Champion jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle is riding Thundering On, but the 12-furlong trip may be a question mark. Photograph: Tom O'Hanlon/INPHO That was earned on the back of an impressive win at Navan in the race won by Ezeliya before winning the Oaks two years ago. Thundering On gives reigning champion jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle a legitimate shot at a first English Classic, although the 12-furlong trip may be a question mark.Last year’s winner, Minnie Hauk, as well as the outstanding Enable in 2017, used Chester as a stepping stone to Oaks glory, so Amelia Earhart is navigating a tried-and-trusted Classic route. So, too, is the apparent prime British hope Legacy Link, who landed the Musidora at York.Colin Keane is also trying to land a first English Classic in what will be a vital 24 hours for the rider appointed Juddmonte’s number one less than a year ago. With Item waiting in the Derby, the six-times Irish champion jockey has a big shout at a major Classic double.Legacy Link beat Felicitas at York, although the latter appeared to palpably run out of stamina. Legacy had K Sarra back in third and she is backed up by two other fillies from Ralph Beckett’s yard.Beckett has won the Oaks twice with Look Here (2008) and Talent (2013). A La Prochaine was third to Amelia Earhart at Chester and is his number one hope, according to the betting. Both previous Beckett winners were big outsiders, so it might be dangerous to ignore his third runner, On Message.She won a handicap at Epsom, so is proven around the unique circuit. Hector Crouch’s mount also shaped as if she’ll relish the mile-and-a-half judged on her good finish at Goodwood recently. That race produced the 2010 Oaks heroine, Snow Fairy.Ultimately, the home team is also up against the statistic that O’Brien has won the Oaks seven times in the last dozen years. Throw in Ezeliya and Irish-trained fillies have won the race eight times in the last 11 years. In that time only the Gosden camp has interrupted that dominance.It’s a formidable record that means whatever quirks Amelia Earhart possesses she still looks like being the target for everyone else.