Staying the trip is the only significant doubt about the well-backed filly before the Classic at Epsom on FridayIt takes around 20 seconds for a horse to cover the last two furlongs in the Oaks, and for Maqsad (4.30), it could feel like the longest 20 seconds of her life. Stamina is the one significant doubt about William Haggas’s filly before Friday’s Classic at Epsom, but even after support from 7-1 to 11-2 since Thursday afternoon, that is factored into her price and she is well worth supporting to give her trainer a second Oaks winner.Despite having spent some time sifting through the stats for Siyouni’s offspring in search of positive evidence that she will get 12 furlongs, the news...
Cape Of Good Hope is the only one of Aidan O’Brien’s eight entries at the five-day stage who will miss the raceThe final list of runners and stall positions for Saturday’s Derby is complete following a draw ceremony at Epsom Downs racecourse, with 13 runners due to go to post including seven trained by Aidan O’Brien, who will be hoping to saddle a record-equalling seventh winner of the race.Cape Of Good Hope is the only one of O’Brien’s eight entries at the five-day stage who will miss the race, having been declared instead for the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) at Chantilly the following afternoon. Roger Varian’s Surfman, third behind Telecaster in the Dante Stakes, will also skip Epsom...
The surprise in the field for Friday’s Oaks at Epsom is that Frankie Dettori will ride the Lingfield Trial winnerAidan O’Brien will saddle four of the 14 fillies in Friday’s Investec Oaks at Epsom as he attempts to take his record in this season’s British Classics to three-out-of-three and retain a chance to become the first trainer to win all five of the Classics in the same season. The surprise in the field, though, is that Frankie Dettori has opted for Anapurna, the Lingfield Oaks Trial winner, over Mehdaayih, who took the Cheshire Oaks earlier this month and will be ridden by Rab Havlin.Pink Dogwood, the easy winner of the Salsabil Stakes at Navan in April, is the leading contender...
Fast ground for the Classic will be a new test for Sir Dragonet, who has had ease in the ground for two races so farMy first confident assertion of Derby week is that Sir Dragonet is not going to get the same ground on which he was so impressive at Chester. Weather-related predictions are, um, not exactly danger-free but we’re only five days from the greatest Classic and there is no sign of the precipitation that would surely help the favourite.“The only threat of rain I can see in the forecast just now is in the next 48 hours,” Epsom’s clerk, Andrew Cooper, told me this morning. “It’s really confined to Tuesday afternoon and is expected to be showery in...
The John Gosden-trained colt’s turn of foot should be decisive in a clash with the Newmarket Guineas winner Magna GreciaImmediate redemption awaits Too Darn Hot (3.35), who lost his unbeaten record but ran to a high level in the Dante, when asked to make up a lot of ground. Returning to a mile should help and he can land the Irish 2,000 Guineas at The Curragh, provided he can pick his way through a 14-strong field.On the face of it the Newmarket Guineas worked out well for Magna Grecia, when he was one of three to race against the stands’ rail. He might lack Too Darn Hot’s turn of foot. It will be interesting to see whether Phoenix Of Spain...