Emissary begins Investec Derby mission at Goodwood on Sunday

Classic-winning trainer Hugo Palmer is looking forward to unleashing Wolverhampton maiden winner Emissary in Sunday’s EBF Cocked Hat Stakes at Goodwood.

The son of Kingman is a half-brother to 2010 Investec Derby winner Workforce. Hugo Palmer said:

“I suppose when a horse is beautifully bred and a half-brother to a Derby winner, the dreams are always going to be a little bit higher than they would be with other horses. So, we are going to keep dreaming until he does something to stop the dream.

“This horse just had one start at two and he won his maiden very well, at Wolverhampton in the Autumn, and he’s grown and developed a lot over the winter.

“His work is good, very pleasing.”

Palmer, who won the Irish Oaks with Covert Love in 2015 and the QIPCO 2000 Guineas with Galileo Gold the following year, believes Sunday’s contest will be a serious test of his colt’s Investec Derby credentials.

“The Cocked Hat Stakes is normally the last Derby trial, the closest one to Epsom and often not won by Derby-type horses. This year it is 20 days from Epsom, so it might make it a rather stronger race.”

Victory in the Investec Derby on July 4th would ensure Emissary’s dam, Soviet Moon, joins a select group to have produced more than one Derby-winning offspring.

Palmer said: “I think it would make her the 13th mare to be the dam of two Derby winners, so it is not impossible. The last one that springs to mind was when Sea The Stars gave Urban Sea her second Derby winner after Galileo.”