G1 Investec Derby favourite English King (Fr) (Camelot {GB}) and new rider Frankie Dettori had an opportunity to get acquainted with one another on the Lambourn gallops on Wednesday, with the Italian partnering the Ed Walker-trained Listed Derby Trial S. winner in a piece of work.
“Today is 10 days out from the Derby, which is always when I would do my last proper piece of work with a horse, and he worked very well,” Walker said. “Frankie came in and had a sit on him, and everything went smoothly. He came out of it good and seems in good shape.
“I wasn't really nervous about this piece of work, because he's not a horse that you need or expect to see blasting clear of his lead horse in Frankel-Bullet Train style. I was lucky enough to see that horse work a number of times and I always feared that if that's what it took to have a Group 1 horse, I probably never would have one. This guy only does what he has to do, and the thing I was most nervous about, with Frankie coming down, was he might not impress Frankie, but he loved the horse. Frankie rode him from his stable and back to his stable–he really wanted to get inside the horse's head and understand him, which is a mark of Frankie's professionalism. He rode him for well over an hour, and they got on great.
“His feedback was kind of as I expected–he loves the way he moves, he's an exceptionally athletic horse and he loved his personality. He's a playful horse who switches off and conserves energy. He is very straightforward, but has that Montjeu twinkle in his eye. He'll have another piece of work early next week, all being well. Then it's just a case of freshening him up and getting him feeling as well as he possibly can for the big day.”
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