Will Murtagh be proved right opting for Rip in the Derby?
Will Johnny Murtagh ride Rip Van Winkle to Derby glory at Epsom?
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Saturday, 06, Jun 2009 09:21
With Investec finally clearing up the sponsorship worries surrounding the Derby by signing a deal with the two-day festival until 2013, punters can now settle down to try and pick a winner in what on paper is a wide open race.
A field of 13 are set to make it to the starting post at Epsom Downs, with Aiden O'Brien unsurprisingly sending out a large number of his stable in a bid to gain his third success in the race.
Originally, ten members of his yard where entered for the classic, but now only six remain to try and emulate the feats achieved by Galileo in 2001 and High Chaparral the following year.
It is unclear where O'Brien's best chance lies, with Fame and Glory, the long-time favourite for the £1.25 million race and Rip Van Winkle, fourth in the 2,000 Guineas last month, believed to be his two biggest fancies.
Fame and Glory has taken the same route into Epsom as O'Brien's previous two success stories by winning the Ballysax Stakes and the Derinstown Stud Derby Trial this season.
However, Rip Van Winkle may have not had an ideal preparation for the 2,000 Guineas after suffering with a bruised foot prior to the race, although some experts have argued he was ridden too far off the pace that day.
There are also doubts about whether he stays, but the booking of chief stable jockey Johnny Murtagh is of significance and has caused the horse to be backed into 9/2 for the race.
Murtagh's decision to oppose Fame and Glory has seen the horse give up favouritism despite being unbeaten in his four starts.
Seamus Heffernan will again be in the saddle, as he was when the horse impressively bolted clear of John Oxx's Mourayan in his Derby trial at Leopardstown.
The main doubt over the three-year-old is whether he will take well to the trials of the Epsom course, but that is a question mark that could be aimed at most of the contenders.
Sea The Stars is the horse that has been backed into favourite as Fame and Glory has began to drift in the market, with this year's 2,000 Guineas winner looking to become the first horse since Nashwan back in 1989 to complete the two-race double in the same season.
The half-brother to Galileo stayed on strongly to beat Delegator in the 2,000 Guineas and he will have Mick Kinane on board for the fifth successive occasion.
Third in that race was another Irish-trained horse in Gan Amhras, which is trained by Jim Bolger and will be ridden by Kevin Manning, the pairing that teamed up to win the Derby last year with New Approach.
Gan Amhras was caught for speed at the business end of the Guineas and the extra half a mile in the Derby could be right up his street.
The remainder of the eight Irish horses in the race are made up by O'Brien, with perhaps the strongest contender being Black Bear Island.
The Ryan Moore-ridden horse collared stablemate Freemantle on the line in last month's Dante Stakes, an event which has been a strong judge on Derby winners in the past.
Authorised was victorious in the race before romping to the Derby in 2007, while North Light (2004) and Motivator (2005) also achieved the double.
Alternatively, punters could opt for Lingfield Derby Trial winner Age of Aquarius, which has been backed into 20-1 and the first two home in the Chester Vase, Golden Sword and Masterofthehorse.
In terms of the English-trained challengers, Crowded House is likely to be the strongest contender, despite his disappointing run when a beaten favourite in eighth in the Dante.
Trainer Brian Meehan only recently confirmed that last year's Group One Racing Post Trophy winner would line-up and he cannot be without a chance bearing in mind he spent most of the winter as favourite for the race.
Crowded House is also Meehan's first ever runner in the race.
William Haggis has won with his only ever previous entry in the Derby with Shaamit in 1996 and he sends South Easter to Epsom, with Debussy running for John Gosden and Mick Channon's Montaff completing the English charge.
Saeed bin Suroor's Dante fifth Kite Wood completes the field, with Frankie Dettori's mount bound to prove popular with the female backers.
Craig Kemp