Derby

Charlie Appleby has hinted at supplementing Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) for the Cazoo Derby on Saturday week and suggested that the decision hinges on how the colt performs in a key piece of work on Wednesday morning. Nations Pride has won his last four starts and, while he did not take part in the gallops morning at Epsom on Monday, he dominated conversation with Appleby revealing that he was leaning towards stumping up the £75,000 supplementation fee to run in the Derby.  A general 10-1 chance for Derby glory,...

Ralph Becket is a man who knows a thing or two about Epsom glory, given he trained Look Here (GB) (Hernando {GB}) and Talent (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) to win the Oaks, and he will be bidding to make the Cazoo Derby breakthrough with Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who was reported to have had a positive experience at the track on Monday.  Meanwhile, Roger Varian revealed that 2000 Guineas fourth Eydon (Ire) (Olden Times {GB}) was not a certain starter in the Derby, despite the fact the trainer was impressed...

Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) will not return to the scene of his greatest triumph for the G1 Coronation Cup after a bout of coughing held up his preparation for his intended comeback at Epsom on June 3. Last year's Derby and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. winner will head instead to Royal Ascot. "Adayar was an intended runner some months ago but he just met with a minor setback in that he was coughing so I eased off him for a week," said Charlie Appleby via a video...

Can we have too much of a good thing? When it comes to racing in the spring the answer is almost certainly not, but the rapidity with which all the decent action takes place can make it difficult to take it all in. For example, in the last 11 days we have had three Derby favourites. First the horse who had held that honour all winter, Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), who was then replaced by his stable-mate Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), all the rage after his Derby Trial victory...

For Aidan O'Brien it had been a week of mostly ups, with one major down. On Friday morning, the winter favourite for the Derby, Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), was found to be lame behind after exercise, having been shortened in the betting for Epsom following his third-placed finish in the 2000 Guineas. By Sunday he had been ruled out of the Derby completely, just as another potential star emerged from the Ballydoyle battalions in the hugely impressive Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). A maiden until the end of March on...

ROSEGREEN, Ireland--Ryan Moore will find it difficult to ride anything other than Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Cazoo Derby, according to Aidan O'Brien, who may be without the ace--Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB})--in his Epsom pack, but expects to run up to six colts as he bids for a record-extending ninth win in the race on June 4. Stone Age didn't just open the door to a tilt at the Derby in winning the G3 Derby Trial at Leopardstown on Sunday, he kicked it open and announced himself as...

Jean-Claude Rouget is not prone to hyperbole so, when the decorated French handler compared the unexposed Al Hakeem (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) to his only G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) earlier this week, some people did a double take. Not Benoit Jeffroy, who manages Haras de Bouquetot on behalf of the Al Shaqab operation. Jeffroy has long been aware of the standing in which the multiple Classic-winning trainer has held Al Hakeem and, when the colt won the Listed Prix de Suresnes at Chantilly on...

Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), the short-priced favourite for the Cazoo Derby, is not certain to line up at Epsom after meeting with a setback, Aidan O'Brien has revealed. Third in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket last Saturday, Luxembourg had been a general 2-1 chance for Derby glory before O'Brien revealed the news to the Racing Post on Friday. He said, "Luxembourg was a little bit off after his canter this morning. He was a little lame on his off-hind." O'Brien added, "We are not sure of the reason why at...

Less than a fortnight after it was announced that legendary trainer Kevin Prendergast would remain on the Shadwell roster, the 89-year-old operator confirmed that he was not the retiring kind and spoke for the first time since Hamdan Al Maktoum's passing about his long and successful relationship with the hugely influential owner. The Shadwell operation has been winding down gradually since Hamdan Al Maktoum passed away just over a year ago and, while major operators like Dermot Weld and Sir Michael Stoute will no longer train any of the horses...

The Aidan O'Brien-trained Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) will head straight to Epsom following his third-place finish in Saturday's 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.  The winner of last season's G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy at Doncaster is currently favourite for the Cazoo Derby on June 4. "The two colts [from the 2000 Guineas] cantered this morning and seem fine. Luxembourg just clipped heels after going 50 yards and he did well to finish where he did," said O'Brien at the Curragh on Monday. "I think he will go straight to Epsom, that was...

On the eve of The Queen's Platinum Jubilee, The Jockey Club has revealed some early details of the plans in place to mark the celebration at the Cazoo Derby festival at Epsom Downs on June 3 and 4. With The Queen confirmed to attend the Derby alongside members of the Royal Family, tens of thousands of fans will be permitted to attend the raceday, with The Hill also re-opened for the first time in two years. The Hill will this year include a ticketed Jubilee Family Celebration section, with other...

Last week's Haynes, Hanson and Clark Conditions S. winner Zechariah (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}) is likely to be put away for the winter with an eye towards starting in a Derby trial next spring, said trainer Martyn Meade. Campaigned by Aquis Farm and Manton Park, Zechariah broke his maiden at third asking at Sandown on July 22 before making fairly light work of Juddmonte's Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Godolphin's King Of Conquest (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) at Newbury on Friday. "I was a little concerned about the ground, but...