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| Investec Derby 2011 |
Epsom
Derby
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Abdulla Second Entries Nearing Seasonal Return Ahead of Potential Investec Derby Tilt 13/04/11 A year after paying £8,000 to enter Workforce in the Group One Investec Derby, leading owner/breeder Khalid Abdulla could bid to unearth another superstar in the shapes of Picture Editor, Midsummer Sun and Sea Moon, who were also added to the Epsom Downs Classic at the second entry stage last week.
Abdulla’s Classic crop this year looks stronger than ever with a total of seven horses going forward for the £1.25 million Investec Derby, run on Saturday, June 4, also including current red-hot 2,000 Guineas favourite Frankel and the unraced trio of World Domination, Eagles Peak and No Such Number. Picture Editor won two of his three starts as a juvenile for Henry Cecil, including when taking a 10-furlong Leicester conditions race by 30 lengths at the start of October. Stable companion Midsummer Sun, a half-brother to multiple Group/Grade One heroine and Investec Oaks runner-up Midday, is set to make his debut at Newmarket on Wednesday. Like Workforce, Sea Moon is trained by five-time Investec Derby-winning trainer Sir Michael Stoute and the son of Beat Hollow, a comfortable winner of a Yarmouth maiden in October, could make his seasonal return in one of the leading Derby trials over the coming weeks. Lord Grimthorpe, racing manager to Abdulla, revealed today: “Picture Editor won his maiden at Doncaster nicely and it looked quite a good race at the time. He then bolted up in a three-horse race at Leicester, which was a bit of a non-event, and he worked really well going into the Zetland Stakes but disappointed on the day. “There was nothing wrong with him afterwards, so it probably was a case of him being over the top by then. He has come through the winter quite well and we have quite decent hopes for him. “He has been entered in a 10-furlong conditions race at Newbury on Friday but he may well turn up on Saturday in the Greenham Stakes at the same course to do another part-time job in ensuring a good gallop for Frankel. “Frankel has a very good cruising pace but you really don’t want a crawl in any trial - the whole idea is to bring him on for a Classic and there wouldn’t be much point in running if it was just a crawl. “Midsummer Sun runs in a 10-furlong maiden at Newmarket on Wednesday. He was slightly more of a backward type last season but he has come on well so far this year. He is bred to get the mile and a half of the Investec Derby but he is only making his debut and all will be revealed tomorrow. “Sea Moon was a little bit unlucky in a maiden at Leicester first time out and then he won on heavy going at Yarmouth, when he and the runner-up were nine lengths clear of the third home. “It’s hard to get a real evaluation of him from that run due to the ground and the type of race but he has done very well over the winter. “He is from the same family as Workforce but there was some debate at this point last year whether he would stay the Investec Derby trip. Sea Moon is by Beat Hollow, who was beaten by a pair of Arc winners in the 2000 Derby, and he gives the impression that he would stay a mile and a half quite comfortably. “We will probably start him off in one of the Derby trials. He is just beginning to have his work stepped up at the moment and we will be looking at Sandown Park, Chester, York or Lingfield for him. “It depends on how the other horses are going and we will try and sort out some pecking order if we are lucky enough to have several contenders for the Investec Derby.” The build up for this year’s Investec Derby steps up a gear over the coming weeks with a host of key trials, beginning with the £30,000 Investec Derby Trial, run over 10 furlongs of the famous Derby course at the Investec Spring Meeting on Wednesday, April 20.
MIDSUMMER SUN (GB) He has yet to see a racecourse, but Prince Khalid Abdulla’s home-bred
Midsummer Sun is already prominent in betting lists for the 2011 Investec
Derby. The son of Germany’s top stallion Monsun is bred to perform at
the highest level. He is a half-brother to five-time Group and Grade One
winner Midday out of a half-sister to Investec Oaks heroine Reams Of
Verse.
PICTURE EDITOR (GB) Picture Editor is Juddmonte to the core being by owner/breeder Khalid
Abdulla’s top-class Dansili out of a smart middle distance winning halfsister
to Warning and Commander In Chief. Henry Cecil’s charge battled
to a head verdict on his debut in a Doncaster mile maiden on September
9, and then stormed to a 30-length success in a 10-furlong conditions
race on heavy going at Leicester a month later. His final start of 2010 saw
him sent off the 4/6 favourite for the Listed Zetland Stakes at Newmarket
on October 30, again over 10 furlongs. Picture Editor weakened to finish
third, three and a quarter lengths behind Indigo Way.
SEA MOON (GB) Like Picture Editor, Sea Moon is a Juddmonte homebred, being by Grade
One victor and Investec Derby third Beat Hollow out of Park Hill Stakes
winner Eva Luna. He is closely related to St Leger winner Brian Boru and
his half-sister, Soviet Moon, is the dam of last year’s Investec Derby
winner Workforce. Sea Moon was a short-head second to Sadler’s Risk on
his debut in a mile maiden at Leicester on October 12, but triumphed at
the second attempt when the 1/5 favourite for a heavy ground mile
maiden at Yarmouth two weeks later. |
