La Roche was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. As a two-year-old in 1899 she showed some promise, winning once from six attempts, but appeared to be some way below top class. In the following season, when tried over longer distance, she emerged as one of the best horses of her generation in England, winning the Oaks Stakes, Manchester Cup, Yorkshire Oaks and Newmarket Oaks as well as finishing fourth in the 1000 Guineas and third in the Doncaster Cup. She was retired at the end of the season to become a broodmare and had considerable success as a dam of winners.

The Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards, about 1½ miles, and it is scheduled to take place each year in late May or early June. It is the second-oldest of the five Classic races, after the St Leger. Officially the Betfred Oaks, it is also popularly known as simply The Oaks. It has increasingly come to be referred to as the Epsom Oaks in both the UK and overseas countries, although 'Epsom' is not part of the official title of the race.)