TARTAN Bearer added a degree
of clarity to the Vodafone Derby
picture as Sir Michael Stoute saddled
him to victory in an informative
renewal of the totesport.com Dante Stakes at York.
With former ante-post
favourite New Approach unlikely
to take in the Classic and Sunday's
Derrinstown trial winner
Casual Conquest needing to be
supplemented for £75,000, the
blue riband was in desperate
need of the emergence of a rocksolid
contender.
And emerge it did in the shape
of a full brother to 2000 Guineas
and King George hero Golan,
who himself finished runner-up
to Galileo in the 2001 Derby.
The Ballymacoll Stud-owned
colt was somewhat of a shock
winner, though, and returned at
10-1 in the six-runner affair
which fielded a 4-6 favourite in
the shape of Craven Stakes winner
Twice Over.
Henry Cecil's charge, who had
been as low as 3-1 for the Derby,
made up smooth headway three
furlongs out but soon hung right
and failed to quicken when required.
As he faltered, Frozen Fire and
Tartan Bearer stretched clear.
Stoute's charge prevailed by a
head under Ryan Moore after a
tough battle, with Twice Over
two and a half lengths away in
third.
Cashmans, Blue Square and
Stan James make Tartan Bearer
their new 4-1 favourite for the
Derby.
Totesport have Curtain Call as
their 4-1 market leader with Tartan
Bearer at 5s, while Coral are
4-1, with Casual Conquest at 3-1
favouritism with a run.
Ladbrokes offer a standout 7-1
about the winner, with Stoute's
other pair, Dr Fremantle and Tajaaweed,
at 8s and 10s respectively.
Stoute said: We have got three
nice middle-distance colts and I
was very, very pleased with this
fellow - it showed just how progressive
he is.
"He won maiden at Leicester in
workmanlike fashion, but that is
the way he is.
"He travelled really well and
Ryan had to go for that split. That
will have sharpened him up a bit.
"I think he goes to Epsom with
a solid chance.
"If you were any more than
hopeful you would be a little bit
unwise but he has really progressed
so well since Leicester."
Three of the last four Derby
winners have progressed from
Dante success to Epsom, with
Ballymacoll Stud's North Light
doing the double in 2004.
Their representative Peter
Reynolds said: "Up until today
the only similarity between
North Light and this fellow is
that they were both foaled in
March and both born in the same
box.
"Sir Michael has done very
well with this horse and has
brought him along slowly.
"When I saw he was entered in
the Guineas, in races in France
and the Arc I thought he better
be good!
"What happens now is up to Sir
Michael. If he thinks he is an
Epsom horse, then he is an
Epsom horse.
2His brother didn't do very
well there but he has done it very
well today and that's all we can
ask."
Moore added: "When he got to
the front he just idled, but he really
knuckled down in the last
furlong and stuck his neck out
when Frozen Fire came to him -
he's a very honest horse.
"I can't see why he wouldn't act
round Epsom, but it's early days.
He'll stay I think."
Frozen Fire's rider Johnny
Murtagh said: "He has run a
great race. We always thought he
had a lot of ability, but we don't
know what happened to him in
his last race.
"I thought I was going to win,
but Ryan just got me on the line.
"It was a mile and a quarter
and his first race of the year,
whereas Ryan's horse had run before
this season."
Cecil skipped the 2000 Guineas
with Twice Over to save Khalid
Abdullah's colt for a Derby trial,
but was left downcast after the
son of Observatory lost his unbeaten
tag.
He said: "I am not blaming the
ground as all the others went on
it. He came there and emptied
out and he was disappointing really.
"He came there but seemed to
falter. I don't know, but you
wouldn't think he was a Derby
horse after that."
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