Lammtarra put Bin Suroor in the spotlight at Epsom in 1995 and with the old mantra of fourth in the Guineas, first in the Derby set to be put to the test once again – after Generous so gloriously did in 1991 – the multiple Classic winning-trainer is confident this year’s candidate will excel now upped in distance.
“The further he goes, the better he will be. He is a nice and relaxed horse,” said Bin Suroor.
“Oisin Murphy is going to ride him, he has been in a few mornings to ride him and he’s been happy with him. I’m looking forward to seeing them together in a race.
“The first three were a little in front of him at Newmarket, but he beat Wimbledon Hawkeye who is a good horse.
“He has done everything right since the Guineas and it is exciting to be going to another Classic with him.”
Ralph Beckett is still awaiting his first victory in the premier Classic and holds a strong hand with York hero Pride Of Arras and Stanhope Gardens.
The former bids to become the 12th horse to do the Dante/Derby double, with the Kimpton Down handler happy his York scorer ticks plenty of boxes.
Beckett said: “I think he’s tightened up for the Dante and he’s on good terms with himself. We’re going there with our best foot forward, that’s for sure.
“He’s got more speed than I imagined he would have, having trained his dam and his brothers and sisters, so that is a positive, and his half-sister and half-brother both won at Epsom, which gives us encouragement.
“Soft ground isn’t a concern, he has a soft ground pedigree and it’s been a bit of a surprise to me he handles quick ground as well as he does.”
Stanhope Gardens, meanwhile, was only a neck behind Aidan O’Brien’s Delacroix in the Autumn Stakes in October and made a foot-perfect return at Salisbury.
“Going into the winter this horse was always the one I thought was most likely to show up here,” added Beckett.
“He had the form with Delacroix and he was still pretty inexperienced that day, just his third run having won at Beverley and finished behind Ruling Court on his debut.
“He’s a very well-balanced horse, very light on his feet and it’s likely he will be suited by Epsom.
“He’s a very straightforward customer, the reason he didn’t make a trial is because he galloped away from home in mid-April and pulled a muscle in the back of his ribs which forced him to miss two weeks, so he’s done pretty well to get here.”
Damysus has come a long way since winning on debut at Southwell in December and after catching the eye of many observers when second to Pride Of Arras in the Dante, he could give John Gosden his third Derby and first in conjunction with son Thady.
The Clarehaven team will also saddle the Juddmonte-owned Nightwalker, a staying-on fifth behind his stablemate at York, with Thady Gosden expecting both to thrive at a mile and a half.
He said: “Their pedigrees suggests they will stay and also the way they travel during a race points to that as well.
“The Dante was an interesting race. There were a few little things to take out of it, but these are two horses we think will suit Epsom well. They were both doing their best work late on at York and it was a hot trial, but off that performance they’ve both shown that they deserve to come here.”
As well as Nightwalker, the Juddmonte team will be represented by Henri-François Devin’s New Ground, one of two French raiders supplemented for the race alongside Francis-Henri Graffard’s unbeaten Midak, who will fittingly sport the colours of the late Aga Khan in a race named this year in his honour.
Nemone Routh, French racing manager for the Aga Khan Studs, said: “Every time we have run him he has improved and he has also improved physically through the year, so we would be hopeful he could run well.
“He’s not going there devoid of hope and has done nothing wrong. It’s an open race and he goes there with a sporting chance.”
