Hans Holbein on course for the Derby following Chester Vase victory
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Version 0 of 1. “I think of it as like opening Christmas presents,” Kevin Buckley, Coolmore’s British representative, said after Hans Holbein, the latest well-bred colt from the Aidan O’Brien yard to go on trial for the Derby had won the Chester Vase. “Sometimes you get what you want. Sometimes you get a bar of soap.” It was a reminder that even for those closely associated with O’Brien’s Ballydoyle stable, which has sent out the Derby winner for the past three seasons, the process of sifting the Classic contenders from the rest is neither predictable nor straightforward. Colts that took time to develop as two-year-olds are suddenly facing the kind of test that they were bred to relish, and like Ruler Of The World, the Vase winner two years ago and then the Derby winner too, might have found their moment to shine. Hans Holbein remains an outsider for the Derby at a top price of 25-1, but he earned his place in the field on 6 June with his front-running, one-and-a-quarter length defeat of Storm The Stars. Since this was only his fourth start, and his first outside maiden company, nothing more could really be asked of him. “Ryan [Moore, the jockey] was very happy with the way he went to the line and had a job pulling him up, which definitely puts him in the Derby picture,” Buckley said. “He’s very straightforward and honest, and Ryan was impressed with his attitude. I’ve just spoken to Aidan and that firmly puts him in the Derby picture now. Another two furlongs in softened ground around here was quite an ask but we were very confident that he would get the trip as his close relation Sans Frontieres did. “We’re fortunate to have a large stable of very well-bred animals but until you get them to their trials you don’t know what you’ve got for sure, so it’s very much a learning curve at the moment for the horses and for us.” Several more colts with a Classic pedigree will go on trial over the next 10 days before the final decision is taken on which of them will make the trip to Epsom. “Highland Reel [who runs in the French 2,000 Guineas on Sunday] is an exciting horse to look forward to, and hopefully John F Kennedy will live up to expectations [in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial] at the weekend,” Buckley said. “Kilimanjaro runs in the Lingfield Derby Trial [on Saturday], he’s got decent form as well.” Cannock Chase, whose Group One entries include the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and the Eclipse, was the 6-4 favourite to make a successful start to his four-year-old season in the Group Three Huxley stakes, but could not force his way past Maverick Wave. John Gosden’s four-year-old, who made all the running, was making his first start on turf this year after a busy winter campaign on the all-weather. “The second came past us and then we came back,” William Buick, the winner’s jockey, said. “John has brought this horse along nicely and he’s going from strength to strength. I’m sure there’s more to come from him [and] something at [Royal] Ascot will have to be considered.” The Irish Turf Club announced on Thursday that the prominent trainer and media pundit Ted Walsh, the father of leading jockey Ruby, has been cleared of any wrongdoing over the running of Foxrock in a race at Punchestown in December. At an inquiry on the day of the race, Walsh told the local stewards that Foxrock had run poorly because he had lost his two front shoes during the race, which was confirmed by a veterinary examination. The Turf Club then reopened the case when evidence came to light that appeared to show Foxrock with all shoes in place after the race. In clearing Walsh, the Turf Club’s Referrals Committee, which deals with disciplinary issues, said that Walsh “would have had a relatively limited window of opportunity” of no more than eight minutes to remove the shoes before the vet’s inspection. |