Telecaster and Sir Dragonet owners aim for supplementary benefit

Connections of Sir Dragonet and Telecaster paid £85,000 on Monday to run in the Investec Derby at Epsom on Saturday. Andy Stephens reports on why they have had to pay such a price and studies the record of runners coming late to the party.

To supplement, or not to supplement. That is the £85,000 question.

The connections of leading Investec Derby hopes Sir Dragonet and Telecaster initially showed a little reluctance, nominating alternative races, but reassuringly the lure of the world’s greatest Flat race remains as strong as ever.

Barring late misfortune, the pair will line-up in the premier Classic at Epsom on Saturday afternoon. And the race will be much richer for their presence.

Nobody with a credible challenger wants to spend the rest of their lives thinking “if only”, even when the price of finding out just how credible costs £85,000. You can buy a lot of hay, carrots and sugar cubes with that kind of cash.

“We’ve done it because it is the Derby," said Hughie Morrison, the trainer of Dante winner Telecaster. "It is the responsibility of all of us to ensure that the Derby remains just that – the turf race of the season.

“Whatever happens on the day, it would be a lesser race if he wasn’t there.”

He added: “I can’t really look forward to it now and I’ll have five sleepless nights if I’m honest, worried that the horse might do something. He could stand on a stone or anything, it happens daily in every yard, so we’ll all be a bit nervous.”

The unbeaten Sir Dragonet, the runaway Chester Vase winner, and Telecaster will need to finish in the first four to repay the gamble, but that will be the least of their ambitions. First prize of at least £850,000, the glory of joining a roll of honour that includes many of the sport's most treasured names and a ready-made stallion is the dream.

Rolling the dice can pay spectacular dividends. Kris Kin became the first supplementary entry to win in 2003 – five years after the system was introduced - and Golden Horn did likewise in 2015.

Having a mare covered by the latter costs £50,000 and he can be on duty three times a day. All of a sudden, £85,000 can look like pocket change.

But it can also go horribly wrong: the Paul Cole-trained Proud River was added in 2008 but did not take part after being found lame the day before.

Like Sir Dragonet and Telecaster, Kris Kin and GoldenHorn were entered in the Derby as yearlings only to be scratched 15 months later. Lightning can strike more than once.

How did it come to the stage where owners of Derby winners, and potential Derby winners, forked out £170,000 to see if they have a champion on their hands?

Let’s go back to the start.

Yearling entries for Saturday’s showpiece were made in December, 2017. A total of 338 horses, the majority yet to be named, had their hats thrown in the ring.

The fee was £560. Not a lot of money to trigger Derby dreams, although it can tot up if you happen to own lots of young thoroughbreds who you think might be suitable candidates 18 months down the road.

For example, the Coolmore collective of Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith between them entered 45 yearlings at a cost of £25,200. Another 13 were registered in the name of Annmarie O’Brien, wife of trainer Aidan.

The Aga Khan entered 22; Hamdan Al Maktoum 21; Prince Khalid Abdullah 18; Godolphin 11; Her Majesty The Queen 5; and so on.

At this stage, Sir Dragonet and Telecaster were in the mix, although at the time were merely identified by their pedigrees.

The poker game got more serious in early March with a scratchings stage. Owners had to pay another £1100 to stay in the game, or fold. Ninety-six stood their ground, with 244 walking away from the table.

Magnier, Tabor and Smith trimmed 45 to 25, but it still cost them £27,500. Sir Dragonet, who did not run at two and was still six weeks away from making his debut, was among those scratched. Telecaster, another who had not run as a juvenile, also came out.

A month later, there was a second entry stage for horses not engaged at the yearling stage, with the price of entry for the latecomers rising to £9,000. Effectively an early supplementary stage, 14 more new players were introduced, including Madhmoon and Line Of Duty.

In the middle of this month, there was another forfeit stage and more cash to be paid. The owners of the remaining yearling entries paid £3,400, while those who delayed until April had to find another £11,250.

Finally, today, it cost another £2,800 to confirm with no extra to pay at the overnight stage at 10am on Thursday. So, in total, the bill is a minimum of £7,800 to take part.

The owners of Sir Dragonet and Telecaster have ended up paying about 11 times that much. And unless the 240th running of the great race brings a second dead-heat - the only time it has prevously occured was in 1840 - then at least one will return home vanquished.

Both seem certain to go off at single-figure odds and, indeed, either might start favourite.

A dozen of the previous horses supplemented for the Derby have previously gone off at less than 10-1 and between them they have finished 908514331480.

Cape Verdi (ninth), Casual Conquest (third) and Golden Horn (won) headed the market after being added to the line-up.

The highest-placed finish for those at double-figure odds has been Romsdal, third at 20-1 in 2014.

For those who believe that money talks, the Investec Derby Festival offers a potential unusual treble. Mehydaayih was supplemented for the Investec Oaks; likewise Old Persian for the Coronation Cup; and now Sir Dragonet and Telecaster in the Derby itself.

Full record of horses supplemented for the Investec Derby:

1998 Cape Verdi 9th at 11-4 fav

1999 Lucido 15th at 13-2

2002 Fight Your Corner 5th at 8-1

2002 Bandari 8th at 9-2

2003 Norse Dancer 4th at 16-1

2003 Dutch Gold 6th at 20-1

2004 Hazyview 8th at 40-1

2004 Gatwick 10th at 16-1

2006 Papal Bull 10th at 11-1

2008 Casual Conquest 3rd at 7-2 fav

2008 Doctor Fremantle 4th at 9-2

2008 River Proud did not run

2010 Rewilding 3rd at 9-2

2010 Buzzword 8th at 40-1

2013 Chopin 7th at 12-1

2014 Romsdal 3rd at 20-1

2015 Success Day 12th at 12-1

2016 Wings Of Desire 4th at 6-1

2016 Humphrey Bogart 5th at 25-1

2016 Red Verdon 6th at 20-1

2016 Cloth Of Stars 8th at 8-1

2017 Permian 10th at 8-1

2017 Khalidi 14th at 20-1