Red Verdon turned out
It is a privilege to have a runner today in the Derby and I have a very sporting owner in Mr Arculli who has been extremely keen to run Red Verdon in an open year. First run in 1780 and won by Diomed over a distance of one mile, later changed to the current distance of one and half miles in 1784 the Derby is the ‘Blue Riband’ event and the Classic I and the majority of trainers would most like to win. There is never a bad Derby and the winner will undoubtedly turn out to be smart given how unexposed the majority of the horses are in the field but we are heading to Epsom with an upwardly mobile horse and we have to believe he can win. He is drawn in sixteen which is not ideal but Snow Fairy won the Oaks drawn out wide and it is better than being drawn low. We know he will handle the ground just on the easy side of good and with the temperature not expected to rise significantly until mid-way through the afternoon the ground should still have plenty of moisture in it.
Qeyaadah ran the best of my quartet at Epsom yesterday when finishing third on his seasonal debut, he was keen in the early stages of the race and I hope he will build on this promising run next time. Dark Red was fourth in the mile and a quarter handicap, he was slowly away which was not ideal given he had tracked the leaders when winning all three of his starts and I still think he has a nice race in him in the future. Tibr came to the two furlong pole looking to hold every chance and flattened out, I am tempted to blame the ground as I think he is better than he showed here. Dutch Uncle got very warm beforehand in the mile handicap and was very keen during the race and faded consequently.
We have four runners away from Epsom at Lingfield and Newcastle. Justice First heads to Lingfield and Harry Burns one of our Apprentices rides him for the second time. Merhoob the favourite has some solid recent form but a lot of the field are inconsistent and he has sound each way claims. He raced wide and got too far back last time and Martin Harley felt six furlongs could be ideal, despite all of his wins coming on the all-weather he ran well at Newmarket on similar ground. Global Revival runs in the six furlong Novice at Newcastle, the favourite Tailor’s Row looks to hold strong claims even with the penalty and I am not convinced the Leicester race we were fourth in was that strong. I hope he can show us promise again but I am expecting one or two to be too good. Rockery and Social Media both run in the 6:40 and it looks like a strong race with big Newmarket yards well represented. Rockery has the benefit of a run but she is still very much learning and Social Media is making her debut and will know more in the future.
Minding was very impressive yesterday and showed a fantastic turn of foot in the ground, she had a hard race in the Irish Guineas and must be very tough. Architecture was the only filly who gave her a race and she has run out of her skin in second.
Here are some interesting Derby facts, Fifinella won the Derby in 1916 and two days later reappeared to win the Oaks, that makes the twelve days between Minding’s Irish Guineas second and her Oaks win seem like a long holiday! The winner in 1844 Running Rein was in fact a 4 year old named Maccabeus and he was subsequently disqualified, doubts had surrounded the horse since he landed a gamble as a two year old at Newmarket where he looked rather more mature than his rivals! In 1828 The Colonel and Cadland dead heated and had a rematch later on in the day which Cadland won. The weather may have been inclement recently but back in 1867 the race was hit with snow.
Trying to narrow down the dangers today is extremely tough as there are some many unknowns and it is no surprise that some bookmakers are going 5-1 the field. Wings Of Desire won the Dante which is traditionally the strongest trial and he showed a good attitude when knuckling down under pressure to beat Deauville. The latter named was having his seasonal debut but you would expect Wings Of Desire to improve more for the step up in trip. Ulysses ran away with a Newbury maiden by ten lengths and the third ran well yesterday when second which would suggest he has run to around 100 there with further improvement likely, he is bred to win a Derby and will handle the ground. Algometer looks tough and will appreciate the ground, he is likely to run a big race. Harzand’s recent form is on heavy ground and Moonlight Magic improved on better ground when turning the form around with the second from Harzand’s latest win Idaho. US Army Ranger has only run twice and you have to respect Aiden’s judgement that he will improve significantly for Chester. Massatt is a Guineas second who was galloping right to the line and he cannot be ignored and Humphrey Bogart is a trial winner whilst Across The Stars was unlucky in the same race. You could argue a case for every horse in the race and Red Verdon has improved significantly for every run, he has shown this progression in his homework too and so we head there hoping he can improve upwards of a stone once more on what he has shown on the racecourse so far, which is what he will need to do to be competitive.