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Aga Khan's Midak set for Saturday’s Betfred Epsom Derby
Ryan Moore riding City Of Troy on their way to winning the 16:30 Betfred Derby on June 1, 2024, at Epsom Downs Racecourse, Britain.
Excitingly, Midak only made his debut in March, but quickly progressed through the ranks, completing a hat-trick at Saint-Cloud recently.
He could easily find enough improvement necessary to bang an emotional victory in a race being run in memory of the Aga Khan, who had numerous big-race strikers in His auspicious green/red silks.
The £1.5million Classic has a late, confirmed entry with a £75,000 supplement, Midak (Mickael Barzalona 14-1), conditioned by Francis Henri Graf. British racing has very kindly named the race for His Highness the Aga Khan this year, so, why shouldn't Midak oblige? He stays in peak condition, loves undulations, has buckets of speed, stamina, never worries about crowd furor, and seems to thrive on competition.
A pure chestnut son of Footstepsinthesand, Midak was unraced as a two-year-old, but has won three times this term at Lyon-La Soie, Chantilly and the ten and a half-furlong Group 3 Prix Greffulhe. Princess Zahra says "noise, tight Tattenham corner, and music, will not disturb the great horse."
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It has paid to side with Aidan O'Brien's runners, and the draw with subsequent jockey bookings, favors Delacroix over his stablemate The Lion In Winter. In many respects, Delacroix is the solid option.
He is 2-2 since stepping up to 1m2f, has the world's best rider in Ryan Moore, and represents connections who know all too well about Derby requisites. His Ballysax Stakes win has worked out nicely, with companions in second and fourth going on to win Derby trials, and there's enough in his pedigree to suggest he will be effective over 1m4f.
This nonsense about stall 19 not winning the Derby since 1967, is not really an issue. There were more positives than negatives to be taken out of The Lion In Winter's Dante reappearance. He hammered Ruling Court at two and it is too early to think he's not going to be a star at three. He deserves at least a place bet at 8-1, with Colin Keane in the stirrups.
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Having finished third in Sandown's Classic trial and second in last month's Dante at York, Damysus is not an obvious choice. However, he is boosted with each run and would have got to the winner at York had it been over a longer trip. Furthermore, he is a son of Frankel. This will be the biggest field of nineteen, since Kris Kris shot by in 2003.
Al Wasl Storm (stall 13) David Probert
Damysus (15) James Doyle
Delacroix (14) Ryan Moore
Green Storm (8) Billy Loughnane
Lambourn (10) Wayne Lordan
Lazy Griff (3) Christophe Soumillon
Midak (4) Mickael Barzalona
New Ground (17) Alexis Pouchin
Nightime Dancer (9) Jamie Spencer
Nightwalker (5) Tom Marquand
Pride Of Arras (16) Rossa Ryan
Rogue Impact (1) Luke Morris
Ruling Court (7) William Buick
Sea Scout (18) Harry Davies
Stanhope Gardens (2) Hector Crouch
Tennessee Stud (12) Dylan Browne McMonagle
The Lion In Winter (19) Colin Keane
Tornado Alert (11) Oisin Murphy
Tuscan Hills (6) David Egan
3 Delacroix, Ruling Court, 5 Pride Of Arras, 11-2 The Lion In Winter, 12 Damysus, 14 Lambourn, Midak, 16 Stanhope Gardens, 22 bar.