By Daithi Harvey
Nineteen colts and one filly remain in Saturday's G1 Investec Epsom Derby after Monday's five-day stage. John Gosden's Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Aidan O'Brien's Cliffs Of Moher (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) have been vying for favouritism for a while now and both stand their ground. Aidan O'Brien has left in seven candidates in total with five being sons of Galileo (Ire) including Capri (Ire), Douglas Macarthur (Ire), Finn McCool (Ire), The Anvil (Ire) and Venice Beach (Ire) with Wings Of Eagles (Fr) (Pour Moi {Ire}) completing the septet. Cracksman represents the same owner/breeder/trainer combination as 2015 winner Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) and John Gosden could also be represented by Crowned Eagle (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), Pealer (Ger) (Campanologist), Glencadam Glory (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and last Friday's Goodwood listed winner Khalidi (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}) while former Derby winning jockey Joseph O'Brien has Rekindling (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}) still engaged. Godolphin could have up to three runners in the Derby with Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Best Solution (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and TDN Rising Star Dubai Thunder (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) all in the mix. York's G2 Betfred Dante winner Permian (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) is on course as is Martyn Meade's G3 Craven S. winner Eminent (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) while Salouen (Ire) (Canford Cliffs {Ire}) could represent Lambourn trainer Sylvester Kirk. The filly and rank outsider Diore Lia (Ire) (Yeats {Ire}) completes the line up at this stage.
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