This year’s Derby appears the kind of race for which new contenders announce themselves every other day and The Gurkha stuck his name in the hat with a comfortable success in the French 2,000 Guineas on Sunday. Ridden by Ryan Moore for Aidan O’Brien, the colt powered five and a half lengths clear of a dozen rivals and is now 6-1 from 20s for the Epsom race.
The Gurkha’s performance came just six weeks after his racecourse debut, when he was third in a Leopardstown maiden. In between, he had hacked up in another maiden at Navan.
Being a son of Galileo, The Gurkha is surely worth a try at the Derby distance of a mile and a half and he did not appear to be stopping at the end of Deauville’s mile on Sunday but O’Brien was keeping his options open. “He has three options now: the St James’s Palace, the French Derby and the Epsom Derby,” the trainer said.
But O’Brien has struggled to come up with a convincing Derby candidate in the recent trials and it would be quite surprising if he skipped Epsom with such a talented and progressive animal. O’Brien’s US Army Ranger remains the 9-2 favourite for the Classic on 4 June, with John Gosden’s recent Dante winner, Wings Of Desire, on 5-1.
A tilt at the Derby is also being mulled by connections of Ulysses, a general 16-1 shot after breaking his duck at the third attempt when landing a Newbury maiden by eight lengths on Friday under Moore. Another son of Galileo, he is out of Light Shift, an Oaks winner, making him a strong Epsom contender on breeding.
“He won very nicely and has taken the race very well,” said Alan Cooper, racing manager for the Niarchos family, owners of Ulysses. “As for plans, we will regroup with Sir Michael [Stoute], Ryan and the racing team and see what Sir Michael thinks we should do next. He’s in the Derby, but he’s just won his maiden. We are going to give his programme good thought and when we know, all will become clear.”
But there will be no Epsom for Foundation, a good third in last week’s Dante, when he may not have had the clearest of runs. Harry Herbert, chairman of his owning syndicate, said the colt would go to the French Derby on 5 June.
“William [Buick] wasn’t able to extricate himself when he needed to, but he ran very well and was only beaten a length and three-quarters by the winner,” Herbert said. “William felt we should stick to a mile and a quarter for the time being and the French Derby looks a very good target for him.
“It will be very exciting for everyone involved to have a runner in the French Derby. I don’t think Highclere have ever had a runner in the race before.”
