Doctor Fremantle sees off the challenge of All The Aces
It MAY well turn out to be irrelevant as far as what happens at Epsom next month is concerned, but it probably still brought a smile to the face of Khalid Abdullah as he contemplates the possibility of a third Derby success.
The Chester Vase was backed by the Bank Of America and the chances of it having been contested by the winner of the premier Classic are probably about the same as those of the sponsor offering a first-time-buyer a 100 per cent mortgage on an over-priced property.
This was nothing like the hurly-burly the runners will face on June 7, with the small field ambling round at a steady pace for much of the way - and few of them are likely to be at Epsomto experience it either, with none of the first three home entered in the Derby.
But just as Sir Alex Ferguson - who was at Chester on Thursday - derives satisfaction when Manchester United reserves win a couple of days before the first team play a crucial Champions League tie, so Abdullah is entitled to regard the outcome of the first of the Derby trials as a positive omen. :eee:
His first-string for Epsom is Craven Stakes winner Twice Over, who will put his position as Derby favourite on the line when he tackles next week's all-important Dante Stakes at York, which has thrown up Epsom winners North Light, Motivator and Authorized in the last four years.
A handful of potential minor obstacles to that unbeaten colt's chances of emulating the owner's Derby winners Quest For Fame and Commander In Chief dropped away on Thursday, as his Doctor Fremantle saw off four Epsom entries to make a successful transition from handicap to Group 3 company.
After squeezing through on the inside to lead 1f out, the 11-8 favourite, who had finished second in a handicap at Newmarket three weeks earlier, held on by half a length from All The Aces, the pair five lengths clear of Pampas Cat and Feared In Flight - who did best of the four colts with a Derby engagement.
The Sir Michael Stoute-trained winner can be supplemented to the Epsom line-up at a cost of ?5,000 on June 2, but that doesn't appear likely, with his existing entries signposting more viable options.
His horse is in the King Edward VII Stakes and the Irish Derby and I should think we are looking at that route at the moment,?said Abdullah's racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe.
He plan with him was to bring him on gently. I think if he is good enough the Irish Derby could set up well for him.
He were very pleased with him today. He missed the break and then it was a bit of a muddling race and he slipped through nicely on the rails, quickened well, pricked his ears a little bit and idled bit but then went on through with it.?
Jockey Ryan Moore added: 鐈e travelled nicely and picked up well, then just idled a little bit in the last half-furlong. He is still improving - he got beat in a handicap three weeks ago and it took him two runs to break his maiden.
"He will get better with more racing and more experience. He is still a bit keen and when he got to the front he was just waiting.?
The Ladbrokes St Leger Doncaster in September beckons for the runner-up, whose trainer Michael Jarvis said: 鐈e ran very well. Heis not in any Derby races and we are thinking he is a St Leger horse as he stays and battles. We will keep him on good ground. He is a horse for the future.?
Front-running Pampas Cat was assailed for the lead from halfway and trainer John Gosden said:㜁e had about three kamikaze pilots come at us and it was set up for the horses behind us, but that's life and the way it goes.?
