With Britain’s tabloid media certain to whip interest up to fever pitch come
the first Saturday in June, The Queen’s Epsom Derby (Eng-G1) favorite CARLTON
HOUSE
(Street Cry [Ire]) set a more sedate tone when going through the motions in a
scheduled workout at Newmarket’s Warren Hill Thursday.
Trainer Sir Michael Stoute stepped up to the plate to issue an upbeat
bulletin on the Dante S.
(Eng-G2) victor, who bids to provide Her Majesty with a first Blue Riband success.
“Carlton House has come out of the Dante very well and is coming along nicely,”
Stoute said. “We’ll give him a loosener Saturday, but it will be his work next
Wednesday that will be more an indicator of his wellbeing.
“I don’t have any
worries about him staying at Epsom, as the dam was second in the Lancashire Oaks
(Eng-G3) and he’s done plenty of left-handed work in preparation for the track.
“You do
feel a bit more responsibility with this horse because there is so much
expectation from people. He’s got a big following, lots of well-wishers and one
is aware of the media interest. I’d prefer to be back at home having breakfast,
but realize you have a responsibility.
“The Queen was up in Newmarket before the
Dante and she adores her horses, they are a subject that really engage her.
She’s a real horsewoman and I speak to her before she has a runner and then
after the race. It was a nice easy call to make after the Dante! It would
obviously be nice if she did win the race, but she is very philosophical if we
don’t win. She’s a great realist who has been in this for a long, long time, but
let’s hope there’s a great end to the story.
“We always liked him from the start,
he worked well and was a good stamp of a horse. We were worried about the ground
for his first race at Salisbury, but he did what we hoped he would after that at
Newbury. It was late October, but he won by nine lengths and we realized we had
a potentially nice horse then. They have got to have the temperament to handle
the occasion at Epsom and physically have the talent to get a nice position, be
athletic and have some gears.”
Newmarket conditioner Ed Dunlop indicated his satisfaction with the progress
of Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) third NATIVE KHAN (Azamour [Ire]) as the gray continues
his build-up to the June 4 Derby. Dunlop revealed his plan to give Vefa
Araci’s sophomore a taste of the undulating course by sending him to the
Breakfast with the Stars morning at the Surrey venue next week. That policy
served the La Grange team well before the April 30 Newmarket classic.
“Native Khan is very good,” the trainer told PA Sport, “and the thing I’m really
pleased with is that he was very fresh and bouncy in the Craven (Eng-G3), but after that
we took him for a walk round at Newmarket and he was much more relaxed. He was
very well behaved on Guineas day and he’s even more relaxed now, which I’m
thrilled to see. He’s chilled out and is growing up mentally.
“We’ll take him to
the Breakfast with the Stars so we can just show him Epsom. He’s going to do no
more than a canter round there as long as all goes well.”