Horse Racing: Dragonet set to lead good crew from Ballydoyle in Investec Derby

DESPITE a sharp drift in the betting a few days ago casting major doubt over the participation of Aidan O’Brien’s ante post Investec Derby favourite Sir Dragonet, the latest report from the trainer suggests otherwise.

Speaking at the annual Breakfast with the Stars event at Epsom Downs Racecourse yesterday, the six-time Derby-winning trainer far from closed the door on a tilt at next Saturday’s colts’ Classic.

“If I had to have a bet on it, I’d think the lads [owners Coolmore] would prefer to go to Epsom rather than France.”

That statement alone saw him return to the summit of the betting at 10/3 with Star Sports, having been as big as 6/1 with most bookmakers on Monday morning.

If he does turn up on the Downs, then the manner of his runaway performance in the Chester Vase, only his second career start, will, according to his trainer, stand him in good stead for the Epsom test.

“He showed that he gets the mile and-a-half well, he can quicken and he has class,” said O’Brien.

O’Brien plans on bringing a “good crew” of horses to contest the Classic, with (in no particular order) Circus Maximus, Broome, Norway, Anthony Van Dyck, Cape Of Good Hope and Japan all still in the mix, though the Master of Ballydoyle did help clear up the picture a little.

Mohawk, who also holds a Derby entry, looks destined for the French version at Chantilly.

“We are not sure if he’ll get the mile-and- a-half and he’ll probably go to France.”

In Sir Dragonet, Broome and Anthony Van Dyck, O’Brien is responsible for the top three in the betting, though recent Dante winner Telecaster, trained by Hughie Morrison, could upset the Ballydoyle applecart.

Morrison said: “As a three-year-old colt, he’s certainly the best I have ever trained.”

That maybe doesn’t instantly place him in a pantheon of elite horses, as Morrison’s only previous Derby hope was Pisco Sour who finished ninth at odds of 50/1 in the 2011 renewal.

Still, he showed all the credentials of a live Derby contender on the Knavesmire last week, and he couldn’t have a much better pedigree for the race, being out of Derby-winning sire New Approach and Oaks runner up Shirocco Star.

The big question mark hanging over the general 7/1 shot is that he needs to be supplemented for the race at a cost of £85,000.

“It’s a huge amount of money and there are still other options,” said Morrison. “We get a free entry into the Irish Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris.”

At slightly bigger odds of 9/1 with Star Sports is Bangkok, whose trainer Andrew Balding was on hand to provide an update on the son of Australia’s progression.

“He’s a horse we’ve always liked and he probably didn’t achieve what he should have done last year.

But the way he wintered and began to relax in his work at home, we were getting pretty excited in March.”

Balding’s colt opened his account two months ago with a win at Doncaster, beating Telecaster by just over a length, and then went on to win the Classic Trial at Sandown.

“We were pleased with the way he did it that day [at Doncaster], his work improved again, he won well at Sandown and he’s in a great place at the moment.”

More will be known come Monday’s supplementary stage, but as things stand it looks like an Investec Derby that is O’Brien’s to lose, with a select handful of horses hungry to pick up the pieces.