Like the Oaks Trial, this is a hard race to judge, but we do have some more interesting runners in this field, with some of the runners with nice pedigrees and career performances already in their careers. This isn’t exactly much of a trial race for the Derby when you consider it’s on the all-weather, and the fact the last horse to win this and follow up in the Epsom feature was High Rise way back in 1998. However, it does feature Military Order, who features prominently in the ante-post market for the big one, so it could be a race worth taking note of.
GG Editor Jake Russell is on hand to give his thoughts on the three at the head of the betting, before giving his expert verdict on who he’s backing to come out on top.
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Odds correct at time of posting – 3.15pm Friday 12th May
Key Runners
Military Order (Charlie Appleby)
The Godolphin horse heads into this contest off the back of three Novice runs, including a three quarters of a length win at Newmarket last October, before going back there to win with ease at 1m2f at Newbury, beating Exoplanet by 4 lengths. That was a pretty impressive win, and he hasn’t done anything wrong in his three career runs so far and is bred to get even better as a three-year-old, which he shown when landing that Novice contest at Newbury last time out on seasonal re-appearance. He is fairly short in the Derby market at Epsom already given he hasn’t contested in any races near that level, where he looks like he is the main runner for Godolphin. He looks a talented individual, and if he wins this race, could firmly cement himself in the Derby market.
Circle Of Fire (Sir Michael Stoute)
Like most of these higher up in the market, the King-owned horse won a Novice contest last season in pretty decent fashion, beating Tabaretta by just under four lengths. He then made his seasonal re-appearance at Newmarket in a Listed contest just last week, getting beaten by just under 2 lengths. That was his first run for a few months, so would have blown away the cobwebs and potentially got him ready for this race, however being not so long ago there could be a bounce factor in play. He does have potential though, and is trained by last year’s Derby winning trainer, so that could certainly play to his strengths. Ryan Moore is riding as well as he has ever, so that is a very eye-catching booking.
Inquiring Minds (John & Thady Gosden)
One of the more interesting runners in this field, he does look to be a very nice horse in the making. He didn’t run as a two-year-old, which might be a little concern given how lightly raced he is, but he didn’t show that when winning on debut at Newcastle last time. Sent off the odds-on favourite, so the market support shows how well regarded he with the yard. And that performance on debut was a real eye catcher, he looked a real professional and couldn’t have done it any easier. Unlike the main protagonists in the field, he has form on the all-weather, which will play to his strengths, but the lack of experience might catch him out. No matter the outcome of this race, he does look to have a nice future over these middle-distance races. Should he win this nicely, he could be one to really shake up the Derby picture.
Verdict
I personally can’t see anything other than the top three in the market winning this race, it would be good to see Inquiring Minds win this as he does look to have loads of potential judging by his debut performance. However, I feel Military Order is quite short in the Derby market for a reason, and judging by his performance last time out, he could be the one to improve the most and win a contest of this nature. He looks the one for the feature classic for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby this year, so he is the one I would side with in this contest. He is quite short in the market, but probably deservedly so, given how he won last time out when tackling the 1m2f for the first time, with the step up even further in trip suiting him.
SELECTION
Check out this weeks Weekend Watch, where our terrific trio of tipsters guide us through their selections for the key racing on offer at Ascot and Haydock on Saturday:
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