Next Saturday’s Epsom Derby (Eng-G1) is beginning to take shape after a number of
contenders were ruled in and out during the track’s “Breakfast with the Stars”
Thursday morning. Dermot Weld has given the green light to Moyglare Stud’s
CASUAL CONQUEST (Hernando [Fr]) to take part after the Derrinstown Stud
Derby Trial (Ire-G2) winner pleased in a spin at Leopardstown on Wednesday evening.
“Casual Conquest worked … at 9:15 p.m. and I was satisfied with the way he
worked,” Weld said. “He wasn’t as explosive at the end as when he won the Derrinstown, but Pat Smullen was very pleased with him and said he idled when he
hit the front. He’s come out of the work well and I’m very happy with him. I
will speak later today to Mr. Haefner, and my recommendation for him is to run
at Epsom. I will encourage him to supplement the horse and to run in the race.”
Aidan O’Brien on Thursday described Susan Magnier’s English (Eng-G1) and Irish
Two Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) winner HENRYTHENAVIGATOR (Kingmambo) as an unlikely starter due to the
prevalent soft ground.
“At the moment, we think the decision about running is
going to be taken out of our hands,” O’Brien announced. “The ground in
Epsom is soft this morning, and the forecast is not for any real drying weather
between now and the Derby. Everybody knows that Henry wants ‘summer ground’ and
it looks like it is not going to be like that. Being realistic for the horse, it
is probably in the next day or so a decision will be made, but it is probable we
will have to give the Derby a miss.”
Clerk of the Course Andrew Cooper hopes
that the ground will dry before the main event.
“It is quite a
difficult one to read forecast-wise,” Cooper said. “There is a lot of other weather feedback
and channels I go through that certainly suggest we are going into a relatively
dry spell over the next few days.”
O’Brien sill has a large team to call upon
and added, “We hope to run four or five in the Derby. We obviously have
FROZEN FIRE (Montjeu [Ire]), KING OF ROME (Montjeu [Ire]), WASHINGTON IRVING (Montjeu
[Ire]), ALESSANDRO VOLTA (Montjeu [Ire]) and BASHKIROV (Galileo [Ire]), and they are all possibles at the moment. The
two horses who ran at Lingfield (Alessandro Volta and King of Rome) both ran
very good races and are going the right way. We are also happy with Washington
Irving since his Leopardstown run, and Frozen Fire has been well since York.”
Sir Michael Stoute has an enviable hand in next Saturday’s classic, with Ballymacoll
Stud’s Dante S. (Eng-G2) winner TARTAN BEARER (Spectrum),
Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Dee S. (Eng-G3) scorer TAJAAWEED (Dynaformer)
and Khalid Abdullah’s Chester Vase (Eng-G3) hero DOCTOR FREMANTLE (Sadler’s
Wells). He confirmed that Ryan Moore will renew his partnership with the former,
with Kerrin McEvoy likely to ride Doctor Fremantle.
“I am pretty certain Ryan
would ride Tartan Bearer,” he commented. “McEvoy has ridden Doctor Fremantle in
a couple of pieces of work, and we’re hoping he’ll be available.”
Of Tajaaweed,
who will be ridden by Shadwell’s retained jockey Richard Hills, he added, “He’s
not the orthodox model — he’s 16.3 (hands) — but I always think Chester is a
pretty good prep, and he handled that well. He has an awful lot of talent.
There’s a slight doubt about staying — the dam’s a half-sister to Mr.
Greeley –but it’s not a one-dimensional sprinting family and he’s always given
the indication he will stay a mile and a half.”
Tartan Bearer and Doctor
Fremantle both also received favorable mentions from the Freemason Lodge
conditioner.
“Tartan Bearer is never going to win by far, as he’s very
laid-back. On the formbook he’s very progressive, and the Dante will have
sharpened him up mentally, as well. All being well, Doctor Fremantle will be
supplemented on Monday. He’s beautifully balanced, medium-sized and will act and
travel.”
Trainer John Gosden Thursday appeared to give the thumbs-up to a Derby
challenge with Anthony Oppenheimer’s BRONZE CANNON (Lemon Drop Kid), who beat
Doctor Fremantle in a handicap at Newmarket’s Craven meeting before
following up on Sunday.
“His form links in well with Doctor Fremantle, and he
did it in good style the other day,” Gosden said. “I still need to discuss it
with his owner, but the feeling is he’s keen to run. There’s no reason not to be
bold and have a go.”
Patrick Cooper’s CURTAIN CALL (Sadler’s Wells) enjoyed a Thursday spin
over Epsom Downs and pleased trainer Luca Cumani ahead of next Saturday’s Blue Riband. Despite not having run since making a successful sophomore bow in a
conditions event at Nottingham April 23, last year’s Beresford S. (Ire-G2) scorer found
conditions in his favor at the rain-soaked Surrey venue.
“It will have done the horse the world of good,” Cumani commented. “Jamie
(Spencer) said he handled the
track very well and gave him a good feel. I have been pleased with everything he
has done, and all I have to do now is keep him sound and safe until the first
Saturday in June.”
Godolphin will field a sole challenger in the Blue Riband in the recent Poule d’Essai des Poulains
(French Two Thousand Guineas) (Fr-G1) runner-up RIO DE LA PLATA
(Rahy). Last year’s Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (Fr-G1) scorer was confirmed an intended
runner by Racing Manager Simon Crisford after Ibn Khaldun (Dubai Destination)
was declared on target for Sunday’s Prix du Jockey-Club (French Derby) (Fr-G1) at
Chantilly.
“We’ve decided to run Rio in the Derby and Ibn Khaldun will run in
the French Derby this weekend,” Crisford explained. “We are very pleased
with Rio, and he ran a very good trial in France. It may have looked like he was
stopping in the final furlong, but there are two reasons why we hope he’ll get
the trip. He was very badly drawn in France and used an enormous amount of
energy to finish where he did. The ground was also a bit too quick for him. He’s
bounced out of that very well, though, and we are very happy with him. We’re
happy that Rio will get a mile and a quarter, but not so sure about a mile and a
half. We’re guessing whether he’ll get home over that distance, but he did run a
great trial in the French Two Thousand Guineas.”