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Pride Of Arras dazzles in Dante as The Lion In Winter disappoints
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Thu 15 May 2025
Pride Of Arras caused an upset in the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante Stakes as The Lion In Winter was soundly beaten at York.
The latter horse was the ante-post Derby favourite and was expected to take a step towards the Classic at York, but after wrestling with Ryan Moore in the early stages, the 8-11 market leader never seemed to land a blow and finished unplaced.
Instead it was Pride Of Arras, ridden by Rossa Ryan and trained by Ralph Beckett, who came to the fore with length-and-a-quarter triumph at odds of 18-1, with 16-1 shot Damysus second and Wimbledon Hawkeye third.
Enjoy a full replay
Pride Of Arras is now a 4-1 chance with Paddy Power for the Betfred Derby, having been available at 50s before the race.
Beckett said: “I think that was everything I hoped for and more.
“I was saying to the owner that I’d been tough on him to get him here, we had to take him away, he galloped at Lambourn about two and a half weeks ago and he’d been on the watered gallop at home several times.
“He’ll come forward from today as well, when I say I was tough on him it was his lack of experience, he rolled around at Sandown before he went clear, he found experience easy in the end but through the race he wasn’t finding it easy.”
Beckett gives his snap verdict
Beckett saddled Bluestocking to finish a narrow second in the 2023 Irish Oaks and win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last season, while Westover was third in the Derby at Epsom the previous year before going on to land the Irish version.
The trainer thinks it is hard to compare those Juddmonte runners with Pride Of Arras, but feels the son of New Bay merits a crack at the Classic.
He added: “He’s worthy of his place (in the Derby). It’s difficult to say he’s like my other Classic horses. I’ve trained for Mrs Aykroyd all my career and this is a home bred. He’s not a Westover, he’s not Bluestocking. He has a good back pedigree but not the profile of those, if you like.
Ryan believes the best is yet to come from the winner
“But in saying that, he has more speed than Westover, he’s a better workhorse than he was.
“If he handles Epsom, which I think he will, and he handles the jamboree, which based on today I think he will, we’ve every right to think we’re going there to be competitive. What happens after that, who knows?”
The Lion In Winter became another O'Brien challenger to come up short in the Dante.
He has not won the race since 2010 and his last 18 runners in the race have now been beaten.
It's his stablemate, Delacroix, who is now the new Derby favourite.
Paddy Power updated Derby betting: 9-4 Delacroix, 3 Ruling Court, 4 Pride Of Arras, 5 The Lion In Winter, 10 Damysus, Twain, 14 Lambourn, 20 Mount Kilamanjaro, Stanhope Gardens, Wimbledon Hawkeye, 25 Green Impact, Puppet Master, 33 Acapulco Bay, Hotazhell, Purview, Tennessee Stud, 40 Opportunity, Push The Limit, Spanish Voice, 50 bar
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