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Dettori rides favourite Golden Horn as Derby pressure mounts

04/06/2015

A terrific seven race simulcast programme comes from Epsom this weekend with the feature, at 11.30pm, being the world famous Derby Stakes (G1 2409m), the British Classic with its unmatchable history and looking as fascinating as ever in 2015.

Certain favourite is the unbeaten John Gosden-trained Golden Horn, a colt boasting a clear winning chance on form after he accelerated to a super-stylish victory in the 2080m G2 Dante Stakes at York last month.

The pressure will be huge not least because the usual Derby winner instantly becomes valued at HK$200 million plus for later breeding purposes.

And much of the Golden Horn pressure rests squarely on the shoulders of jockey Frankie Dettori who has won races at the highest level in 20 countries but who has only ridden one Group 1 winner in Britain in the past two seasons.

What makes Dettori's challenge more frightening is the fact that Golden Horn's stamina for this 2409m task has been repeatedly questioned by breeding experts.
 
Because there is a substantial downhill section it is easy to forget that Epsom's Derby is one of the stiffest stamina tests over this sort of distance in the world.  The punishing climb over the first 1000m is especially demanding and usually leaves those with distance limitations vulnerable to savage exposure in the home straight.

Golden Horn's world-famous pilot will need to get his tactics just right and the 44-year-old  Dettori admits: "I'll be nervous on the day for sure, but I've been doing this for a while and you have to try and channel the excitement to your advantage." 
  
Although second guessing the strategy of Golden Horn's rivals may be dangerous, it will be surprising if Irish trainer and master tactician Aidan O'Brien - responsible for the last three Derby winners - does not plot for a vicious pace especially as there are few stamina worries for his trio of Giovanni Canaletto, Hans Holbein and Kilimanjaro.

And with the news that Ryan Moore - who some believe is the best jockey riding in the world right now - has picked Giovanni Canaletto, a full-brother to Ruler Of The World, Epsom Derby hero in 2013, there is increasing positive momentum behind his winning chances.

The other big players according to most opinion are Golden Horn's stablemate Jack Hobbs (William Buick) and Elm Park (Andrea Atzeni). They finished second and third to Golden Horn in the Dante, and both have plenty of supporters who believe that the tables can be turned over the different distance and geography of Saturday's spectacular.

And let's not forget Zawraq, from Dermot Weld's powerful Irish stable. Unbeaten and highly regarded it is hoped that this colt will be able to compete despite suffering a slight leg injury during his final preparation work on Tuesday.

Flintshire is another of the big attractions on this exciting card with the 2014 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (G1 2400m) winner featuring in the earlier G1 Coronation Cup (2409m). However the Andre Fabre-trained five-year-old will need to cope with another strong French challenger in the shape of the increasingly brilliant four-year-old filly Dolniya. 

Housed close by Flintshire in Chantilly it was the Alain de Royer Dupre-trained Dolniya who outgunned Flintshire in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic (2410m) at Meydan back in March.

 

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