Following the Derby trial successes of Ballydoyle in the last seven days, it will be no surprise to see the impressive Gowran Park maiden winner Sir John Lavery book his own slot in the line-up for the June 3 blue riband. Successful by seven lengths over a mile on testing ground from Haripour (Ire) (Shamardal), the half-brother to last year's Derby hero Harzand (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), the relative of Hawk Wing is held in high regard by four-times winner Aidan O'Brien and he said, “He's only just ready to start back, but he looked very exciting last season. He'd had a few little hold-ups in the spring, which is why he's been aimed at the later trials. He works like a very classy horse at home, so we'll see how he does. He'll come on for the run a fair bit, but then he'll have to.” Godolphin's assault is two-pronged, with last year's G3 Autumn S. winner Best Solution forced to carry a five-pound penalty and the Charlie Appleby-trained Zamfir having to progress off a debut maiden success over a mile at Leicester on Apr. 7. “He won nicely at Leicester and we've been very happy with him since,” the latter's trainer said. “It is a big step up for him, but he came out of that race well and I think the step up in trip could eke out a bit of improvement. We'll have a better idea of where we stand after Saturday.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
