Epsom gallops morning: the key Derby talking points

Several horses have used the ‘Breakfast With The Stars’ event at Epsom as preparation for Classic glory over the past decade and a half. 

Pour Moi sparkled on the Downs before winning the big one in 2011 and, more recently, John Gosden sent Taghrooda and Golden Horn to the course before they won the 2014 Oaks and 2015 Derby respectively. Cracksman and Emily Upjohn also stretched their legs at the track before going close to Classic glory.

This year,  Damysus, a best-priced 12-1 for the Derby, and Nightwalker, whose odds have tumbled from from 100-1 to 25-1 in recent days, were dispatched from Clarehaven, with Thady Gosden on duty.

Also in attendance was Owen Burrows who brought over his Derby outsider Al Wasl Storm. He could also yet be represented in the Betfred Oaks with Falakeyah a day earlier.

Five minutes or so before Al Wasl Storm took to the track, Nightwalker under Rab Havlin and Damysus under James Doyle worked around ten furlongs at a gentle gallop, with Nightwalker leading, before Damysus went clear by just over a length in the closing stages, although neither rider got serious with their mounts.

“The track was in beautiful condition this morning, it was perfect to work on with a good cover of grass. There has been a bit of rain the last few days and was riding on the easy side of good,” Gosden Jr said.

Asked about the Derby as a whole, Gosden said with a laugh: "Well it’s a pretty big race! Winning the Derby is why a lot of people do this. Of course, it’s great to have two chances for the race.

“When Benny The Dip won I was two! But Golden Horn winning was a wonderful day and the runner-up Jack Hobbs was purchased by my mother and some of her friends at Tatts Book 2, so coming first and second was a memorable day. But coming to the Derby for any reason is pretty hard to forget.

"It is an amazing spectacle, it’s sort of the defining race of the season and for a lot of people, their careers. It is a special track and a special place, and a wonderful day to be involved in.”

Gosden added: “It's not the easiest race to prepare for. Coming here this morning helps, but it is a unique test and until you get to it, you don’t know how it will go.

“Both horses finished out well this morning and travelled well through their work. Neither of them were overdoing it and they hit the line strongly. They do have plenty of speed about them, but on pedigree, I don’t think a mile and a half will be a problem.”

It is probably fair to say that of the three horses out on the Downs, the one with the best chance of claiming Classic glory on Saturday week is the Wathnan Racing-owned Damysus, with James Doyle having recovered from injury in time to ride him in his work and partner him in the Derby.

Since Benny The Dip won the Dante and Derby for Gosden Sr in 1997, five horses have landed the double.

Gosden will be hoping that the chestnut son of Frankel will be able to reverse form with this year's Dante winner Pride Of Arras over an extra furlong and a half in 11 days time and achieve the rare feat of having been beaten in a major ‘trial’, excluding the Guineas, and still go on to win the Derby.

The only horse to have been beaten in the Dante before winning the Derby was Workforce, who finished second on the Knavesmire before winning the at Epsom in track-record time in 2010.

Doyle said: “He coped with it [Epspm] very well. He’s a neat horse with a quick action and very well balanced. He relaxed beautifully on the way round and, when we came down Tattenham Corner, he swapped his leads nicely and picked up in the straight. It will be different in a race itself but the track shouldn’t be a problem on today’s evidence.”

As to what he thought of Damysus’s run in the York Group Two under Kieran Shoemark, Doyle commented: “It has to be positive. He’s so lightly-raced and has taken big steps forward between each of his runs.

"I thought there were a few things you could upgrade slightly; he might have been on an unfavoured part of the track and made his challenge on his own. He looked to be following the right horse in The Lion In Winter and then he didn’t take him far enough, so he had to go out on his own and do his own thing.

"He did lean a touch left under pressure showing signs of inexperience, so hopefully he has learned from that.

“I’ve had eight attempts and sixth is the best (I’ve managed, in the Derby). It took Frankie long enough, so it shows how tough it is! I haven’t ridden a Derby winner, so it is hard for me to say what credentials you need, but people talk a lot about it and I think Damysus certainly fits into a lot of the credentials that people look for."

He added: “You do need to travel. You don’t see many Derby winners off the bridle [coming down the hill]. That’s why sometimes, when people are figuring out if they have a Derby horse, you hear the expression ‘he won’t be fast enough’. A horse might stay but he might not be fast enough to hold a good position.” 

Joining the Gosden pair was a big outsider for the race in Owen Burrows’s Al Wasl Storm, who has been improving with every run so far and whose owner, Ahmad Al Shaikh (Green Team Racing), has seen 50-1 chance Khalifa Sat finish second in 2020 and 150-1 shot Hoo Ya Mal fill the same spot in 2022, whilst Deira Mile (25-1), who worked impressively at the gallops morning 12 months ago, and Sayedaty Sadaty (50-1) finished fourth and fifth for him last year.

Filling any of those positions this time around with the 86-rated Al Wasl Storm looks a tall order, but few could have envisaged either of his runners-up getting anywhere near as close as they did and, at least with Owen Burrows’s colt, they have a surefire stayer.

He worked around a mile or so without a companion under David Probert, who rode Hoo Ya Mal for the owner three years ago, and after the gallop, seemed happy with how the son of Affinisea handled the undulations of the course.

“He is different to Hoo Ya Mal, he was quite a keen horse and I had to ride him for a bit of luck and we got a nice split down the inside when finishing second to Desert Crown,” he said.

“This horse is quite professional and laid back, he was quick into stride at Chester so that is one good element. Physically it looks like he is developing well and he is carrying himself a lot better. I was impressed with the way he galloped out.”

Burrows said: “He took a good enthusiastic hold, changed his legs down the hill and got organised but galloped out really well the last couple of furlongs.

"He is a different type of horse to Deira Mile, who was fourth in the Futurity, whereas with this lad, the further he goes the better, so if one or two aren’t staying, he should be hitting the line strongly."

Whilst Burrows admitted that his colt has “a huge amount to find” on ratings, he added: “He had already ran a race and a half before he got to the start of his first race (finished last of seven), but he was good at Chester. I’m very realistic, but I’d like to think he will handle it and will gallop on at the end.”

By Whitemount Stud’s Affinisea, whose best progeny include National Hunt performers Sixmilebridge, Hollygrove Cha Cha, Only By Night and Affordale Fury, and out of a mare by Martaline, damsire of a long list of top-level jumps winners, you’d be forgiven for thinking the Cotswolds in March would be a more likely destination that Epsom in June looking at his pedigree.

Delve a bit deeper though, and you will see his second dam performed over a mile and is a half-sister to an Acomb Stakes winner.

“I did have to look up the stallion!” Burrows said with a laugh. “I didn’t get him until summertime last year and he showed a bit in his work. He is not a typical jumps-bred horse, he’s not a big unit. He is well-balanced, but just was a bit weak at the back end of the year so we put him away, but he has shown ability.

“(The owner) is so passionate about the race, it’s his life goal. He cost €7,000 as a foal from a NH sale, so he’s surpassed himself with this one!” he added.