Bullet Train may not be the Derby ticket
No-one ever said that training racehorses was an exact science but Henry Cecil and Aidan O’Brien have, at times, come as close to patenting the formula as anyone else.
However both had cause to indulge in a little head-scratching after the latest Classic trials at Lingfield Park. Cecil, perhaps still feeling a pang of frustration after the demotion of Jacqueline Quest in the 1000 Guineas last Sunday, thought he had another Classic prospect on his hands. And indeed he may have, although the results on the day may argue about the identity.
By contrast O’Brien is just hoping to see some light at the end of what is proving to be a long, dark tunnel. The trainer still has 38 entries for this year’s Investec Derby but, so far, the ammunition that he has loaded for the Derby trials has proved to be falling well short of the target.
He sent two colts to run in the Group Three totesport.com Derby Trial, trying to improve on the performance of the 24 runners he had saddled in Group races in Britain and Ireland this year that had yielded just one winner so far. At the other end of the scale, Sir Michael Stoute has hit a patch of the deepest purple and that meant Desert Myth was sent off as favourite to make the step up in class from an easy maiden win at Newmarket last month.
Cecil’s Bullet Train set the pace and was leading the field into the home turn when Captain James Cook, ridden by Johnny Murtagh, was upsides and looking to produce a real challenge. However, O’Brien’s fortunes took a sickening turn for the worse when the colt sustained a fatal injury.
That left Bullet Train in front and he never looked like being caught. Tom Queally did not have to get that serious with the leader, who picked up again when required in the penultimate furlong as Desert Myth’s pretentions to this level proved to be just that and Dubawi Phantom and Hot Prospect could not catch Bullet Train, who won by two-and-a-quarter lengths.
Whether Bullet Train is a hot prospect remains something of a doubt. Dubawi Phantom had previously finished fourth in the Craven Stakes and Hot Prospect, beaten three-and-three-quarter lengths, is rated at 95 and it may well be that this was more of an astute tactical ride by Queally than a horse who could match High-Rise, the last colt to win this race and the Derby itself.
“It was a good performance,” Queally said. “They went an even gallop all the way and I was impressed with the way he stretched and he quickened. There were a couple of ok performers in there and he’s improving so we have a nice horse on our hands, so we’ll see what happens.”
Cecil was in discussion with Teddy Grimthorpe, the racing manager to owner Prince Khalid Abdullah, but was not ready to commit to a run in the Derby just yet. “He’s improving the whole time but he’s still got a long way to go yet.”
Asked about whether Epsom might be the way ahead Cecil replied “Not necessarily.”
Expanding on that thought he explained: “You’ve got to be ready for the Derby. You don’t run a horse in the Derby unless you think they’ve got a chance. So we’ll see how he comes on. He’s in the King Edward at Royal Ascot – he might be more of a Royal Ascot horse. We’re not counting out the Derby – I’ll talk to Teddy and the Prince and see how he goes. But, at the moment, he’s not definitely a Derby horse.”
The decision may well be influenced by the outcome of the Dante Stakes, at York on Thursday, where Stoute will be running another Abdullah-owned colt, Workforce. That race is shaping up as the one which may yet provide a real challenger in the ante-post for the Derby, which at the present is still dominated by the O’Brien-trained St Nicholas Abbey, who finished only sixth in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket last Saturday.
For O’Brien the loss of Captain James Cook and the last-place finish of Don Carlos were just the latest in a succession of reverses. He will be hoping for better things from his two runners in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial at Leopardstown, Midas Touch and At First Sight, but, if the entries are any guide, then Cape Blanco run in the Dante may be the best hope out of Ballydoyle.
The joker in the pack could still be Jan Vermeer. The winner of the Group One Criterium International at Saint-Cloud last November, the colt worked after racing at the Curragh on Monday. He is not entered for a Derby trial, but could still turn out for the Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas) next Sunday, or the Irish equivalent on May 22nd.
As O’Brien searches for some answers John Gosden has his own more pleasant decisions to make. He won both an Oaks (Gertrude Bell) and Derby (Azmeel) trial at Chester this week and found another possible contender for the fillies Classic when Dyna Waltz (pictured left) finished with a late run to win the totesportcasino.com Oaks Trial. Cecil’s Timepiece was the odds-on favourite but paid the price for her long duel with Ceilidh House as Ryan Moore nailed the pair of them in the last 75 yards on Dyna Waltz.
It may well prove to be that Queally paid the price for committing Timepiece to a protracted battle from more than two furlongs out but, while Cecil was wondering just why a filly who impresses him on the gallops has been beaten in both of her starts this season, Moore admitted that he went into the race “just trying to nick a bit of black type really. They went a good gallop and she just stayed on – she tried very hard and she stays.”
Right now O’Brien is trying hard to stay in the game.
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