Those of you who are regular readers of John’s column will know that he put the Aiden O’Brien trained Venice Beach as a selection for the Derby at 20/1, and the Andrew Balding trained filly Horseplay at 14/1 for the Oaks.
It looks like both are heading for their respective races next weekend, which is good news.
We’re hoping the going is good, or quicker, on the day for Venice Beach, but it will pay to keep an eye on the weather.
If the going was to have soft in the description, you’d have to be interested in Godolphin’s Dubai Thunder!
The colt has only had one career start when winning a Newbury maiden by a long looking ten lengths. That win came on soft ground and all his siblings, including 1m 2f Champion Stakes winner Farrh, have been better horses with some ease in the going. The son of Dubawi should be fine over the extra distance of the Derby, and on good to soft or worse would have to be on the shortlist.
However, 13 horses in the past 20 years have tried to win the race after just one start, and all have been beaten with just two have placed!
The last one to try was another Godolphin horse, Rewilding, who was 3rd in 2010. But you have to go back to Lammtarra’s win in 1995 for the last horse to win a Derby after just the one career start.
Interestingly enough Lammtarra, was like Dubai Thunder, trained by Saeed Bin Suroor for the Godolphin operation.
Despite an interest in the claims of the Godolphin horse, we’re still hopeful of a big run from Venice Beach on decent ground, and he remains John’s number one Derby contender!
You can read the rest of John’s blog this week over here.
It includes five new EyeCatchers to add to your “ones to watch list”.
All the best,
The Race Advisor
P.S. Leave a comment on the blog post to let us know who you’re going to be backing in the Derby.
P.P.S. If you’re an EyeCatcher Pro member, then these horses (and more) have already been added to your tracking software.
P.P.P.S. Want all the stats and selections for the Investec Derby Festival this Friday and Saturday? This is the only guide you’ll need.
