The View From the Top

THE VIEW FROM THE TOP 
Since he annexed the G1 Racing Post Trophy at a gloomy Doncaster in late October, Paul Smith’s Kingston Hill (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) has had Epsom’s G1 Investec Derby as his ultimate goal, and now that it is in close range it seems more than achievable as he heads to post the main threat to Australia (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) in today’s strong renewal. While he was just over four lengths adrift of Ballydoyle’s pre-eminent sophomore in the G1 2000 Guineas five weeks ago, the colt, who bids to provide his sire with a second European Derby in the space of a week, was always going to come into his own over further than Newmarket’s mile. His juvenile performances, which also included a win in that track’s G3 Autumn S. on Future Champions Day as well as his authoritative score in the end-of-season Doncaster feature, were marked by a strong finish, and now that the rain has kept firm out of the description, all is set fair for the race’s only top-level scorer. “Kingston Hill looks very well and we haven’t had a hitch with him since the Guineas,” trainer Roger Varian commented. “We were initially a little disappointed with the Guineas run, but in hindsight it was a pretty good run and an acceptable Derby prep. Nothing really went right, but he did gallop on strongly and we’d be very hopeful. I am anticipating plenty of improvement for that run. He has got a good head on him, so he should handle the excitements of Derby Day. We took him for a school around Epsom during Breakfast With the Stars and that was a worthwhile exercise. Andrea [Atzeni] rode him and he went over the undulations very smoothly. I am not doing a rain dance–we will just take the ground as it comes. But it is comforting to know that if a storm hits Epsom, we already know that Kingston Hill goes on very soft ground. The ground will not be any faster than good whatever happens, which is fine. Like the weather, the draw is out of our hands, so there is no point in worrying about him getting stall two. A mile-and-a-half is a long way for them to sort themselves out, and we will just have to hope that he gets a slice of luck at the right time.” 

Strength In Depth… 
Besides having the obvious favorite in Australia, Aidan O’Brien also fields two trial winners and a colt who was an unlucky third in another. Two of Ballydoyle’s four blue riband winners were not the first-string, and few would be surprised if the well-supported Geoffrey Chaucer (Montjeu {Ire}) emulates last year’s winner Ruler of the World (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in proving Joseph O’Brien wrong and carrying Ryan Moore to glory. Always held in high regard, Susan Magnier’s colorbearer signed off last term with a win in the G2 Beresford S. at The Curragh in September, and was stopped in his run at a crucial stage when third on his 
comeback in the G3 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial over 10 furlongs at Leopardstown May 11. “Nothing went right for Geoffrey Chaucer in the Derrinstown at Leopardstown, as it was a very messy race with a slow pace,” the Ballydoyle conditioner explained. “Joseph had to go up the inside from where he was drawn.” Of Orchestra (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who took the May 8 G3 Chester Vase won last year by Ruler of the World, and the following day’s G3 Dee S. scorerKingfisher (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), he added. “I was very happy with the way Orchestra won at Chester. If anyone had seen him there, they’d have seen that he had a bit of a tummy on him and he’ll come on for that. I wasn’t sure he would get a mile-and-a-half, even though his pedigree is very stout. I know Ryan Moore was also impressed with him at Chester and thinks he has a big chance in the Derby. Kingfisher won well at Chester and is a very straightforward horse.” 

The Gosden Gang… 
John Gosden has yet to add to the 1997 win of Benny the Dip (Silver Hawk), but saddles an intriguing duo today in Robin Geffen and Rachel Hood’s unbeaten Western Hymn (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}) and Princess Haya of Jordan’sRomsdal (GB) (Halling). The former beat the subsequent Listed Lingfield Derby Trial winner Snow Sky (GB) (Nayef) in a 10-furlong conditions event at Newbury Apr. 11 before besting Impulsive Moment (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G3 Sandown Classic Trial again over that trip Apr. 25. Romsdal was catching Orchestra with every stride at the close of the Chester Vase and would appreciate additional rainfall. Gosden put the former through his paces at the “Breakfast With the Stars” morning, and was delighted with the way he went around Epsom’s turns and ups-and-downs. “Western Hymn’s family all carry their heads as he does and he’s always been a bit of a playboy and quite a spirited horse, but he ran nice and straight there,” he said at the time. “The trip is not a guarantee on pedigree, so we’ll have to see, but he belongs in the race. There is one exceptional horse in the favorite and his form is way above, so we all have our positions. The Chester Vase was a pretty good trial and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Geoffrey Chaucer and Orchestra fight it out at the end, given the depth of Ballydoyle’s talent.” 

Three For PCH?… 
Peter Chapple-Hyam was one of the game’s major players when Dr Devious (Ire) upstaged stable companion Rodrigo de Triano back in 1992, but by the time Authorized (Ire) followed up 15 years later was performing his old magic from the fringes. Still going strong, he supplies a live contender in Qatar Racing’s Arod (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). Doing all his best work late in the May 15 G2 Dante S. at York, the unexposed colt split the subsequent G1 Prix du Jockey Club hero The Grey Gatsby (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) and Godolphin’s True Story (GB) (Manduro {Ger}) there, and his conditioner believes there is more to come. “Arod has been in really good form since the Dante–we are really happy with him,” he commented. “We think that he has improved and he has definitely improved physically. He should enjoy the step up to a mile-and-a- half–we think that is what he wants even though he has got a lot of speed. But you do need speed too–a horse has to travel well around Epsom. He would not want the ground too soft but he should handle the hullabaloo of Derby Day.” 

Fascinating Outsiders… 
While Geoffrey Chaucer was unable to show his true wares in the G3 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial, it is debatable whether he would have beaten the two who fought out the finish in Fascinating Rock (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) andEbanoran (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}). The former, who was awarded the race by the stewards to add to his prior win in Navan’s G3 Ballysax S. Apr. 12, carries the colors of Maurice and Samantha Regan’s Newtown Anner Stud Farm and is under the care of Dermot Weld. “He’s a fine, big horse, he’s done us proud this spring,” his trainer told PA Sport. “He’s a lovely, kind animal. He’s a smashing colt to train and he’s getting better all the time. We don’t know if a mile-and-a-half is up his street, that’s the unknown question. We hope he will stay. The mental attitude of the horse will help–he’s a lovely, big, relaxed horse. Obviously we’ve been training him to settle, he’s been doing that nicely, and there’s every chance he will get a mile-and- a-half. He got a mile-and-a-quarter at Navan going away–he was coming home to some tune at Leopardstown. He gives us every indication he will stay, but that is the one doubt about it. I’ve been training for nearly 40 years and I’ve saddled 22 European Classic winners and saddled an Oaks winner early in my career, and won a Newmarket 2000 Guineas. If I won the Derby it would be great. I’ve had very few runners in the race.” John Oxx scored with Sinndar (Ire) and Sea the Stars (Ire) here, and while His Highness The Aga Khan’s Ebanoran is not in that league, he is worth his place in the lineup. “Everything has been going fine. He’s a little bit like his mother [Ebadiyla] at home–he doesn’t burn up the gallops, he does what he has to do and no more but he seems in great shape, and we’re happy with the way everything has gone,” he told PA Sport. “He’s got to improve. He’s on 113 [pounds], so he’s got to improve seven pounds to be in the money. We’re hoping he has. He’s improved enormously from race-to-race to date, taking a big stride forward each time, but he has to do it again to be in the money. When he wandered around in the Derrinstown it was not that he became unbalanced, it was just greenness. The longer trip is a new test and Epsom is a very demanding track. You cannot be certain, but he has so much stamina on the dam’s side of his pedigree that there must be a good chance he will stay the extra distance.” Andrew Balding relies on the Sandown Classic Trial runner-up Impulsive Moment, and his part-owner Sue Johnson said, “He is lightly-raced, having only had three starts, and it was a good run behind Western Hymn last time. He is certainly bred for the job, being by Galileo out of a Danehill mare, and hopefully there is some more improvement to come.”