A field of 13 is set to go to phost for the premier Classic, the £1.625-million G1 Investec Derby, which is staged at Epsom Downs Racecourse at 4.30pm on Saturday, June 1, the highlight of the Investec Derby Festival.

 

Ireland's 21-times champion Flat trainer Aidan O'Brien is seeking a record-equalling seventh Investec Derby win as he launches a seven-pronged attack on the 240th running of the Investec Derby over 12 furlongs and six yards.

 

The master of Ballydoyle's septet are spearheaded by Sir Dragonet, the mount of Ryan Moore, who was the supplemented for the Classic on Monday at a cost of £85,000. An impressive winner of the Chester Vase on May 8, having captured a Tipperary maiden on debut on April 25, Sir Dragonet is sired by 2012 Investec Derby victor Camelot and is the 11/4 favourite with Unibet, official betting partner of the Investec Derby Festival.

 

Sir Dragonet was drawn in stall 13 of 13 at this morning's Investec Derby Draw, which was hosted by Racing TV's Tom Stanley and featured Derby-winning jockeys Michael Hills and Willie Carson at Epsom Downs.

 

O'Brien's other six Investec Derby contenders are headed by Broome (Donnacha O'Brien, 9/2, stall 8), who has captured two G3 Derby trials at Leopardstown so far this season. The three-year-old son of Australia, the 2014 Derby victor, backed up a convincing eight-length win in the Ballysax Stakes in April with a smooth victory in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial on May 12.

 

His team are completed by impressive Lingfield Listed Derby Trial victor Anthony Van Dyck (Seamie Heffernan, 15/2, stall 7), Dante Stakes fourth Japan (Wayne Lordan, 10/1, stall 11), Listed Dee stakes scorer Circus Maximus (Frankie Dettori, 20/1, stall 5), Chester Vase second Norway (Jamie Spencer, 40/1, stall 10) and Sovereign(100/1, stall 4), twice placed behind Broome in 2019, the mount of 2017 Investec Derby-winning jockey Padraig Beggy. The Ballydoyle handler's seven runners in this year's Investec Derby account for over half of the field and is his largest team since 2007 (eight runners).

 

Also supplemented on Monday was the Hughie Morrison-trained Telecaster (Oisin Murphy, 11/2). The three-year-old is a son of 2008 Investec Derby winner New Approach, whilst his dam Shirocco Star was second in the 2012 renewal of the Investec Oaks. Unraced at two, Telecaster landed the G2 Dante Stakes at York on May 16, his third start, having previously captured a 10-furlong maiden at Windsor on April 15. At today's Investec Derby Draw, he was assigned to stall 2. No horse has ever won the Investec Derby from that berth, since starting stalls were introduced in 1967.

 

Telecaster chased home fellow Investec Derby entry Bangkok (9/1, stall 12), owned by King Power Racing, in a Doncaster maiden on March 30. Trained by Andrew Balding and ridden by Silvestre de Sousa, Bangkok went on to capture the G3 bet365 Classic Trial at Sandown Park on April 26. He will break from the same stall his Derby-winning sire Australia broke from in the 2014 Investec Derby.  

 

Veteran Irish trainer Kevin Prendergast saddles Madhmoon (Chris Hayes, 10/1, stall 6), who finished a creditable fourth to Magna Grecia in the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 4. Owned by Hamdan Al Maktoum, connections are optimistic that the son of Dawn Approach will stay the extra half-mile at Epsom.

 

The unexposed Humanitarian (66/1, stall 9) has won his last two starts, latterly capturing a 10-furlong novice event at Salisbury and he represents dual Derby winner John Gosden in Britain's premier Classic. He is partnered by Rab Havlin.

 

Completing the field are Godolphin's Line Of Duty (Charlie Appleby/James Doyle, 40/1, stall 1), a disappointing seventh in the Dante Stakes at York on his seasonal reappearance and Hiroshima (John Ryan/Brett Doyle, 250/1, stall 3), successful in a Southwell maiden on May 1.

 

Investec Derby - Unibet prices: 11/4 Sir Dragonet; 9/2 Broome; 11/2 Telecaster; 15/2 Anthony Van Dyck; 9/1 Bangkok; 10/1 Japan, Madhmoon; 20/1 Circus Maximus; 40/1 Line Of Duty, Norway; 66/1 Humanitarian; 100/1 Sovereign; 250/1 Hiroshima

Each-way ¼ 1,2,3

 

Ante-post favourite Sir Dragonet continues to head the market as the build-up to this year's £1.625 million G1 Investec Derby gathers pace.

 

Britain's premier Classic takes place at 4.30pm on Saturday, June 1 at Epsom Downs Racecourse and Sir Dragonet, one of seven runners in the 13-strong field for Ballydoyle handler Aidan O'Brien, is the 10/3 favourite with Unibet, official betting partner of the Investec Derby Festival.

 

The son of 2012 Investec Derby scorer Australia is unbeaten in two starts, both of which came this season. An emphatic winner of a Tipperary maiden in April, Sir Dragonet recorded a taking success in the Chester Vase, a recognised Derby trial, on his latest start on May 8. O'Brien's charge was supplemented for Saturday's contest at a cost of £85,000 earlier this week. Sir Dragonet was pushed out to 11/4 this morning from 5/2 after being drawn in stall 13 of 13 at the Investec Derby Draw, which took place at the track at 11.00am and featured Derby winning jockeys Michael Hills and Willie Carson.

 

The other notable mover after today's draw was Telecaster, who like Sir Dragonet, was supplemented for £85,000 at Monday's supplementary stage. Also unraced as a two-year-old, he chased home fellow Investec Derby entry Bangkok on his debut at Doncaster in March, before plundering a 10-furlong maiden at Windsor on April 15. The son of 2008 Investec Derby winner New Approach entered the reckoning for Britain's richest race when capturing the G2 Dante stakes at York on May 16, defeating subsequent Irish 2000 Guineas second Too Darn Hot. He was assigned stall 2. No winner of the Investec Derby has ever emerged from that berth. Unibet pushed Telecaster out to 11/2 from 5/1 as a result.

 

Unibet's spokesman Ed Nicholson commented: "Sir Dragonet and Telecaster have both been pushed out in the Investec Derby betting after this morning's draw. Telecaster has been drawn in stall 2 and no has ever won the Investec Derby from that stall since starting stalls were introduced in 1967. We've pushed out Telecaster to 11/2 from 5/1.

 

"Sir Dragonet was drawn in stall 13 which again is a little bit of a negative, so we've gone 11/4 from 5/2.

 

"Sir Dragonet has been the one in the past few days who has been the focal point of the betting market. He was 25/1 and bigger before he won the Chester Vase. We immediately cut him to 7/1 after the race, but before the day was out, we trimmed his price again to 4/1. We have seen more money in the past few days since he has been supplemented and he is the biggest loser in the book.

 

"There has also been money for Broome who is the second-favourite for the race."

 

Investec Derby - Unibet prices: 11/4 Sir Dragonet; 9/2 Broome; 11/2 Telecaster; 15/2 Anthony Van Dyck; 9/1 Bangkok; 10/1 Japan, Madhmoon; 20/1 Circus Maximus; 40/1 Line Of Duty, Norway; 66/1 Humanitarian; 100/1 Sovereign; 250/1 Hiroshima Each-way ¼ 1,2,3

In its second year, the Investec Derby draw for stall positions in Britain's premier Classic and richest race the £1.625 million Investec Derby, took place in the historic winners enclosure in front of the Queen's Stand. Drawing the allocations were Michael Hills (stalls), Derby winner in 1996 on Shaamit, and Willie Carson (horses) who took the prize four times with Troy (1979), Henbit (1980), Nashwan (1989), andErhaab (1994).

 

The ceremony was hosted live on Racing TV by Tom Stanley.

 

Carson commented after the draw ceremony: "Low numbers are the ones that have to do that bit of extra work early on. It is not as bad as when they put the stalls on the inside of the track, but it is still a little bit steeper in the first furlong and a half on the inside.

 

"They always put the stalls down on the inside rail in my day.

 

"Telecaster (trained by Hughie Morrison), was drawn 2... there has never ever been a winner out of stall 2. That was a bad call from me. Hughie will be spitting blood. But history is there to be made.

 

"It all depends on the horse. If you are riding a horse that wants to be up there, you want to be drawn high. If you are on a horse that is going to be held up, a lower draw doesn't matter because you are there and you just accept where you are.

 

"Broome (drawn 8) was always my long-term one, because I knew that he would stay a mile and a half. That is the most important thing in a horse that is going to win the Derby.

 

"The Chester winner, Sir Dragonet (drawn 13), although it was soft ground, it was the manner of his win (Dee Stakes, 1m 4½ furlongs) that caught the eye.

 

"He sat last - did they go too fast? I don't think so. He gave the impression that he was a horse that was improving at a very quick rate when he came through to win. So I think Sir Dragonet might be the one.

 

"It is down to the human factor then, they have made your mind up for you having the stalls in the middle, if you are drawn in the middle. If you are drawn high, you can stay or go, the same if you are drawn low.

 

"Nobody ever takes a pull in the Derby, you either push or accept where you are."

 

 

Michael Hills was one of two Investec Derby-winning jockeys present today for the official Investec Derby Draw on the eve of the Investec Derby Festival, along with Willie Carson.

 

Hills' family are steeped in racing history - his trainer father, Barry Hills, won five British Classic races, although never at Epsom, and his brother Charlie recently trained Phoenix Of Spain to win the Irish 2,000 Guineas. His twin brother Richard was also a highly successful jockey, winning the 2005 Investec Oaks aboard Eswarah.

 

Hills' victory in the 1996 Investec Derby on the William Haggas-trained Shaamit was his sole Epsom Classic winner, but his other Group One triumphs included the likes of Pentire in the 1996 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes. The 56-year-old is now a jockey coach and syndicate manager.

 

He said: "My earliest memory of Investec Derby is when my father [Barry] had a runner in the 1972 race, Rheingold. He got beat a short-head by Roberto [trained by Vincent O'Brien], and it was such a close finish that it took half an hour or something for the result to be announced. I was on the way back from school, and I just remember being gutted!"

 

Hills enjoyed 14 rides in the world's premier Classic between 1985 and 2006.

 

He remembered: "My first ride in the Derby was in 1985 - Royal Harmony, for my father. He was 40/1 and I just had a nice ride round; I didn't get anywhere near the front.

 

"On my third ride in the race, in 1988, I was second on Glacial Storm, trained by my father, to Kahyasi - my old mate Ray Cochrane beat me. That was my first 'I could do this one day - I want to do it!' moment."

 

Shaamit came along in 1996.

 

Hills said: "He had quite a lot of problems prior to the Derby - he missed the Dante because he had ringworm, so we had to bypass it and go straight for the Derby. But we managed to get him here to Epsom and William Haggas, who trained him, did incredibly well. He was just a very, very good horse. A terrific horse, and on that day he was unbelievable."

 

Asked if he can remember the feeling of winning the Investec Derby, Hills said with a laugh: "I remember it every day! You don't often get a feeling like that.

 

"There were 20 runners and it was hard getting through the race without getting knocked about, because Shaamit had so little experience. I managed to glide him through the race. I remember talking to Lester [Piggott, who took the Investec Derby nine times] beforehand and he said, 'save the horse for the straight'. I tried to save as much energy as I could for the straight, and when I showed him some daylight going to the three-furlong marker, he just took my hands and away we went. I will never forget it. You hear the crowd, and you hear your name being shouted on the tannoy. I just put my head down and rode as hard as I could.

 

"After the Derby, you are waiting for the next two-year-old that you think might be the next Derby horse - it goes on and on. You've got to be here for the Derby. It's such an exciting race because it is so early on in a horse's career that it is so open. Any of the 13 runners on Saturday can win it."

 

Asked what he fancies in this year's Investec Derby, Hills replied: "I'd love to see Bangkok [an 8/1 chance for trainer Andrew Balding and jockey Silvestre de Sousa] win this year. Andrew Balding is a terrific trainer and I'd love to see him win it. Aidan [O'Brien, who has won the race six times] has got a pretty strong team with seven in it; I think it is a very strong race, as it should be."

 

Group 1, £1,625,000 total prize fund. Epsom Downs, 4.30pm, Saturday, June 1, 2019, 1m 4f 6y. For three-year-old colts (9st) and fillies (8st 11lb). Horses will only be eligible to run provided they have attained a BHA rating of 80 or higher. Horses who do not qualify for a rating may also be eligible providing the BHA Handicapper is satisfied that the horse's racecourse performances up to and including the day before confirmation merit a provisional assessment of 80 or more. Horses who have not run will not be eligible. Entries closed December 5, 2017, first scratchings deadline March 5 (96 remained), second entries deadline April 2 (14 second entries), second scratchings deadline noon May 21 (18 remain), five-day confirmations & £85,000 supplementary stage May 27 (13 remain & two supplementary entries, Sir Dragonet & Telecaster - 15 go forward), final declarations May 30 (13 declared runners).