Wings of Desire Tops Epsom Derby Field
Description:
A field of 16 is set for the 237th renewal of the Investec Epsom Derby (Eng-I) to be run June 4, Great Britain's richest-ever race with a purse of £1,545,000.
Wings of Desire will try to follow in the footsteps of last year's winner, Golden Horn, for the trainer/jockey combination of John Gosden and Frankie Dettori, having been supplemented at the five-day stage after a victory in the group II Dante Stakes at York. He is the 9/2 favorite with bookmakers Coral.
Trainer Aidan O'Brien, seeking a sixth win in the 1 1/2-mile race, is represented by five runners: Chester Vase (Eng-III) victor US Army Ranger (Ryan Moore); Dante runner-up Deauville (Jamie Spencer), winner of the 2015 Tyros (Ire-II); twice Irish group-placed Idaho (Seamie Heffernan); and Chester Vase runner-up Port Douglas (Colm O'Donoghue), winner of last year's Beresford Stakes (Ire-II). His fifth runner is Craven Stakes (Eng-III) third Shogun, who will be ridden by his son Donnacha and most recently fifth in the Irish Two Thousand Guineas (Ire-I).
"All the horses seem to be in good form," O'Brien said. "They all have different profiles and have run in trials. You are obviously hoping they all run good races.
"Deauville is in good shape and everything has gone well since York. US Army Ranger and Port Douglas have done everything right since Chester. Idaho has been in good order since Leopardstown as has Shogun since his run at the Curragh.
"All of their preps have gone well and, although there is still another day to go, everything seems well with them all. We are having lovely weather over here and I would say horses everywhere are looking well and doing well."
Another trainer chasing a sixth win in the Derby is Sir Michael Stoute, who will be represented on Saturday by the much-discussed Ulysses (Andrea Atzeni), an impressive Newbury maiden winner and Lingfield Derby Trial third Across The Stars (Kieren Fallon).
A trainer after a first Derby victory is Ed Dunlop. The Newmarket handler saddles Red Verdon (Silvestre De Sousa), who was supplemented Monday at a cost of £75,000 following an impressive victory in a Haydock Park handicap on May 21.
There are seven Irish-trained runners in total. In addition to the Aidan O'Brien-trained quintet, the group III winners Moonlight Magic (Jim Bolger/Kevin Manning) and Harzand (Dermot Weld/Pat Smullen) will also run. The one French-trained contender is Godolphin's Cloth Of Stars (Andre Fabre/Mickael Barzalona).
Massaat (Owen Burrows/Paul Hanagan) brings classic form to the table, having finished second to Galileo Gold in the QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-I) April 30. In the last decade, both Sir Percy (2006) and New Approach (2008) went one better at Epsom Downs after finishing second over a mile at Newmarket.
Algometer (David Simcock/Jim Crowley) and Humphrey Bogart (Richard Hannon/Sean Levey) won listed trials at Goodwood and Lingfield Park, respectively, while the field is completed by outsider Biodynamic (Karl Burke/Dougie Costello).