By Tom Frary
After the draw had been made for Saturday's G1 Betfred Derby in Epsom's Picture House on Wednesday, Team Godolphin were relieved that one box had been ticked regarding their G1 2,000 Guineas hero Ruling Court. Set to exit from a favourable stall in seven, the son of Justify now has only to navigate the race's notorious twists and turns and bottlenecks and stay the mile and a half.
“We have always felt that the 2,000 Guineas is one of the best trials for the Derby and Ruling Court has trained well since winning at Newmarket,” Charlie Appleby said. “We wouldn't want the ground to get too soft by Saturday, so any significant amount of rain would be a negative. We won't know if he truly gets a mile and a half until we try, but he gives us all the indications that he should get the trip.”
“We know that he is the class horse in the field, which helps, and being able to travel around Epsom is probably more important than being a proper mile-and-a-half horse,” he added of the TDN Rising Star. “We can have no complaints with being drawn seven and are very pleased with how his preparation has gone.”
As expected, Ballydoyle kept everyone waiting for jockey bookings a while after the draw was televised but in the end there were no big plot twists as Ryan Moore was announced the rider of the G3 Derby Trial and G3 Ballysax Stakes winner Delacroix. One of the best staying 2-year-olds of last season, the TDN Rising Star bids to provide Dubawi with his first Blue Riband winner from stall 14 in a special renewal carrying the added title of “In Honour Of His Highness Aga Khan IV”. Fellow TDN Rising Star The Lion In Winter is drawn on the wing in 19, but the son of Sea The Stars has Colin Keane to help circumnavigate the race. Wayne Lordan is on Australia's G3 Chester Vase winner Lambourn, who has the “lucky” stall 10 which has housed 11 winners.
Not that it will probably matter to him one bit, but Ralph Beckett has suffered the statistic ill-fortune of having his pair, New Bay's Dante winner Pride Of Arras and Ghaiyyath's G3 Autumn Stakes runner-up Stanhope Gardens, drawn in 16 and two respectively which bizarrely have both never housed a Derby winner. On the other hand, stall five has had six emerge from it and it is up to Juddmonte's Frankel homebred Nightwalker to extend that sequence. Others of note include Wathnan Racing's Dante runner-up Damysus, another Frankel who is drawn 15, the unbeaten Aga Khan Studs representative Midak who will exit from stall four and the Westerberg colour-bearer Tennessee Stud by Wootton Bassett in 12.
With the race this year run in honour of the late Aga Khan, Midak would be a fitting winner for the operation. The son of Footstepsinthesand hails from Francis-Henri Graffard's all-conquering stable and has been supplemented following his win in Saint-Cloud's G3 Prix Greffulhe. “He's definitely a horse improving with his races and will definitely get the trip,” racing manager Nemone Routh said. “We're not sure on his form lines and how it stacks up, but all he can do is win and he's won every start.”
“He's going to have to handle the track and he's a big horse with a big, long stride. Mickael Barzalona thinks he will handle the track because he's well-balanced, but you never know until they get there,” she added. “We would be very happy to see him finish in the first three or even first five, but he is a bit of an unknown quantity and he does everything easily at home. He's sort of come a little bit out of nowhere, but he's a very good looking horse–a big, strong horse. It's a little bit of a shot in the dark, but we thought it was worth it.”
Nine fillies will take part in Friday's Oaks, with Godolphin's 1,000 Guineas winner Desert Flower (Night Of Thunder) in stall one. That would normally be a negative of sorts, but with the field in single figures should be surmountable if she stays the trip. “Desert Flower has been faultless to date and looks great,” Charlie Appleby said. “We all know that the trip is going to be the question mark and we won't know whether she stays until we run her over it. She looks like a filly who will get a mile and a half and, as far as we are concerned, she has won the best trial for the race.”
As was predicted by Aidan O'Brien on Tuesday, Ryan Moore rides Frankel's Listed Cheshire Oaks scorer Minnie Hauk who is drawn in two, while Ballydoyle's Listed Lingfield Oaks Trial winner Giselle and Musidora winner Whirl are in three and nine respectively. As in the Derby Colin Keane gets the call for one of the trio and this time it is for the daughter of Frankel with Wayne Lordan set to ride Wootton Bassett's Whirl.
Friday's other Group 1 is the Betfred Coronation Cup and The Aga Khan Stud representative Calandagan heads seven older horses for the mile-and-a-half test. The son of Gleneagles faces Galileo's St Leger hero Jan Brueghel, Mastercraftsman's G1 Hong Kong Vase winner Giavellotto and the Irish Oaks heroine You Got To Me, with the daughter of Nathaniel now sporting the Amo Racing silks following her 4.8million gns purchase at Tattersalls December.
Derby:
Stall
13 Al Wasl Storm (David Probert)
15 Damysus (James Doyle)
14 Delacroix (Ryan Moore)
8 Green Storm (Billy Loughnane)
10 Lambourn (Wayne Lordan)
3 Lazy Griff (Christophe Soumillon)
4 Midak (Mickael Barzalona)
17 New Ground (Alexis Pouchin)
9 Nightime Dancer (Jamie Spencer)
5 Nightwalker (Tom Marquand)
16 Pride Of Arras (Rossa Ryan)
1 Rogue Impact (Luke Morris)
7 Ruling Court (William Buick)
18 Sea Scout (Harry Davies)
2 Stanhope Gardens (Hector Crouch)
12 Tennessee Stud (Dylan Browne McMonagle)
19 The Lion In Winter (Colin Keane)
11 Tornado Alert (Oisin Murphy)
6 Tuscan Hills (David Egan
Oaks:
Stall
1 Desert Flower (William Buick)
5 Elwateen (Jim Crowley)
3 Giselle (Colin Keane)
4 Go Go Boots (Oisin Murphy)
2 Minnie Hauk (Ryan Moore)
7 Qilin Queen (Tom Marquand)
6 Revoir (Hector Crouch)
8 Wemightakedlongway(Dylan Browne McMonagle)
9 Whirl (Wayne Lordan)
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