Many a trainer, finding themselves with the Derby second-favourite in their yard less than a month before the race, would struggle to retain their composure, particularly if one of the consequences was having to face dozens of reporters in the stable during a busy work morning. But Andrew Balding has been to this particular circus before and his Elm Park will be doing well if, when he goes to post for the Classic on 6 June, he remains as unruffled as his trainer was here on Tuesday.
The name of Bonfire has perhaps slipped from the memory of most racing fans but it was only three years ago that Balding-trained colt started at odds of just 9-2 for the Derby, having won York’s Dante Stakes, generally regarded as the best trial for the big race. He flopped into sixth place of nine runners and did not win again before being sold to run in Australia at the end of the following year, an experience which doubtless helps to keep Balding’s feet on the ground as he contemplates a return to Epsom.
Elm Park will line up for the Dante on Wednesday. Reinforcing the parallels with Bonfire, this was not the prep-race that the trainer had in mind. Bonfire went to the Dante only because the ground at Chester the week before had been too soft while Elm Park would have run in the 2,000 Guineas had the going not been too firm. But there, Balding believes, the similarities end.
Bonfire, he says, “was a horse that struggled with the proximity of the Dante to the Derby and we were always then playing on the back foot because the race was so close and to get him freshened and prepared for Epsom was a challenge. Elm Park’s [got] a very different mental constitution and he’s the kind of horse who I don’t think will have any problems with that. Three weeks, or whatever it is, is plenty.
“The joy of this horse is there are no mental complications, whereas we were always up against it with [Bonfire]. We were chasing a horse who wasn’t prepared mentally for it, I’d say.”
Elm Park was last seen landing the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster in October, a first success in a British Group One for the 42-year-old Balding since 2003, when he won the Oaks in his first season as a trainer. The colt has made the expected progress through the winter, we are told, and continues to impress in his home work. “Big engine, that’s what it is,” Balding says. “His third gear is other horses’ fifth gear.”
Even so, Elm Park failed to impress about a month ago in a racecourse gallop at Newbury, just seven miles down the road. “It was disappointing,” Balding concedes. “He worked with a couple of older horses, admittedly good older horses, but I thought he’d pick them up and kick them into touch. He won his gallop but he just took time to get organised. The ground was very quick that day and maybe he was a bit rusty but that should have brought him on and, whatever happens, York will bring him on even more.”
Elm Park apparently carried more weight than his galloping companions at Newbury, with the aim of making it a proper test for him. Still, connections are hoping that an easier surface will help him run to a much higher level.
It will need to, as the Dante looks hot. The final field includes Jack Hobbs, who heads the Derby betting on 11‑2, as well as Aidan O’Brien’s pair, John F Kennedy and Ol’ Man River.
Balding reports that Elm Park is likely to be his only runner in Epsom’s Group Ones next month, as Victoria Pollard will miss the Oaks following a poor effort at Chester last week, while Side Glance is out of the Coronation Cup with a setback that will keep him on the sidelines until late summer. Nadder runs in an Oaks trial at Newbury this weekend but, short of an unexpectedly dazzling performance, the trainer does not expect to supplement her for Epsom.
A reminder of the brittle nature of Flat racing careers came through the news that The Wow Signal has been retired to stud by his owners, Al Shaqab Racing. A brilliant two-year-old last year when he won the Coventry Stakes and beat Hootenanny in the Prix Morny, The Wow Signal was a late withdrawal from the recent 2,000 Guineas after suffering an unspecified setback. Trained by John Quinn, he was last seen when a disappointing favourite for the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Arc day in October.
