Elm Park in Derby Hunt

David Redvers is convinced Elm Park (GB) (Phoenix Reach {Ire}) will be in the G1 Investec Derby shake-up after finishing third in his comeback run in York's G2 Dante S. last week. Andrew Balding's G1 Racing Post Trophy winner raced prominently before the John Gosden-trained duo of Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) and Jack Hobbs (GB) (Halling) quickened away inside the final furlong. But Redvers, racing manager to Sheikh Fahad Al Thani's Qatar Racing, believes Elm Park was the horse to take out of the race.

“I think, as Andrew would describe it, it was the perfect prep run,” Redvers told At The Races. “He was a bit burly and getting a bit lazy, as we could see from that piece of work at Newbury, and it will have blown the cobwebs away. Of all the horses to take out of the race, obviously the winner was impressive but he'd had the benefit of a run, our fella will come on an awful lot for it. I think going further will definitely help him but the only worry would be if it was rattling fast, how he would come down the hill?”
 
Continued Redvers, “Epsom is the ultimate test of a racehorse. You cannot be certain how they'll handle it until they come round Tattenham Corner. I've never seen a more obvious case of a horse training on just looking at him, last year he was a shell of a horse but he's really filled out.”