How To Bet £20 on Derby Day at Epsom: Telecaster can fend off rivals

The odds are stacked in favour of Aidan O’Brien in the Investec Derby at Epsom on Saturday but you can find flaws, or at least potential flaws, in each of his seven runners and for my money the value lies with the 11-2 available about Telecaster.

There’s no horse in the line-up better bred for the job and there was plenty to like about the way he won the Dante last time out on what was only his third start, when he won at the main expense of last season’s champion two-year-old, Too Darn Hot, with Japan and Line Of Duty, who reoppose, well adrift.

Telecaster showed fast ground holds no terrors for him on the Knavesmire and will be ridden by a young jockey, Oisin Murphy, who will surely be champion sooner, rather than later.

The Dante was something of an optical illusion – it mistakenly looked like Turgenev and Telecaster had gone off too quick – but Telecaster won on merit, showing the blend of speed, stamina and willingness needed to thrive on the Downs on the first Saturday in June.

His pedigree suggest the extra two furlongs will unlock even more improvement. His sire, New Approach, responsible for last year’s winner Masar, won the Derby in 2008, and his grandsire is serial champion stallion Galileo, the 2001 Derby winner. Meanwhile, his dam was Shirocco Star, beaten a neck in the 2012 Oaks.

Hughie Morrison has been wary of the fact “the best horse he has trained” has had only 16 days to recover from his exertions at York but if it were any other race then that surely would not be a concern and I’m not sure the rules should be any different.

Too Darn Hot was back in action just nine days after the Dante – finishing second in the Irish 2000 Guineas, while Saxon Warrior finished runner-up in the Irish Derby and Coral-Eclipse last year in the space of a week.

Ideally, Telecaster could have done with being drawn a little higher than stall 2 but I’m not going to let that small detail put me off. The fact that nine Derby winners have broken from stall 10 since 1986 and yet none have won from gate 11 punctures Derby draw data in an instance.

With the ground drying up, fluent Lingfield scorer Anthony Van Dyck may emerge as the pick of the O’Brien septet because Sir Dragonet is unproven on anything other than soft ground, while the stamina-blessed Broome also seems well served by some give.

It could be that Bangkok rates the main threat. He was not fully extended to land the Classic Trial at Sandown last time and had previously beaten Telecaster at Doncaster, albeit when clearly having the edge in experience on that occasion.

The Investec Dash (3.45) is typically wide-open but trail-blazing Just Glamorous looks worth risking at a general 22-1.

He’s clearly not been the easiest to train but his rating of 86 is 28lb lower than a couple of years ago and his reappearance run, when collared close home and beaten a nose by Puds at Goodwood, suggests he has returned in excellent heart.

His style of running means he will never be a hostage to fortune and if that Goodwood run has tightened him up then he could take some pegging carrying just 8st on a track that is tailor-made for him.

His draw in stall 12 looks ideal, with runners from that stall making the frame in the race three times in the past five years at 33-1, 9-1 and 25-1.

I’ll also be having a saver on 12-1 shot Dark Shot, who is 4lb well in and 1lb lower than when runner-up in the 2017 renewal, and will probably end up having a combination Trifecta with Open Wide, who is tricky but capable. If it comes off, I won’t care what wins the Derby!

Alkaamel makes most appeal, at 7-1, in the Investec Private Banking Handicap (2.00).

He is 25lb higher in the ratings than at the start of the season but his latest effort, when chasing home Pogo over a mile at Newmarket, shows he is still on the up.

The form of that race is working out a treat and the step up to ten furlongs promises to suit Alkaamel, not least because William Haggas’s charge is out of a dam who was an unraced sister to Gold Cup winner Fame And Glory.

Haggas also has a live contender in the Princess Elizabeth Stakes (2.35) in Awesometank.

She a tremendously reliable filly and edged out Ana Nerium on her return at Goodwood, even though the runner-up had the benefit of a race going into that contest.

I’d expect her to confirm that form and, usually ridden forward, would not be surprised if James Doyle opted to control the race from the front on her, as he did the two times he rode her last summer at Chelmsford and Sandown.

Veracious is the short-priced favourite for the race but she was disappointing when well-backed at a similarly short price on her return at Newmarket.

My other two fancies on the card are Aquarium, who runs in the Investec Out Of The Ordinary Handicap (5.15) and Spanish City in the Investec Asset Management Handicap (5.50).

Aquarium is a typically tough Mark Johnston-trained colt and will be having his 32nd run since making his debut at the start of last year.

His 22-day break since winning in determined style at Chester amounts to an extended holiday for him and he is only 2lb higher.

He was a wide-margin winner at Epsom last summer and also ran well at the track when beating all bar the well-treated Mountain Angel in April. The 9-1 looks generous to my eye.

A few fingers got burnt when Spanish City was edged out at Newmarket a couple of weeks ago but he will love the drying ground and, a strong traveller suited by a good tempo, I think he will relish dropping back to 6f for the first time in two years.

There looks bags of pace in the race and Andrea Atzeni, who has been on board for his past two wins and was in fantastic form on Friday, can pounce late on the 7-1 chance.

2.00 Epsom: Alkaamel £3.50 win at 7-1 with Bet365

2.35 Epsom: Awesometank £3 win at 6-1 with Bet365

3.45 Epsom: Just Glamorous £3 win at a general 22-1

3.45 Epsom: Dark Shot £1 win at a general 12-1

4.30 Epsom: Telecaster £3 win at 11-2 with Ladbrokes

5.15 Epsom: Aquarium £3 win at 9-1 with Unibet

5.50 Epsom: Spanish City £3.50 win at 7-1 with William Hill

£1.25 Win Patent and 30p win treble

2.00 Epsom: Alkaamel

5.15 Epsom: Aquarium

5.50 Epsom: Spanish City

2.35 Epsom: Awesometank

4.30 Epsom: Telecaster

3.45 Epsom: Just Glamorous

Plus a 10p Win Heinz on all six.