Betfred Dante Stakes
Group 2, York 15:15 £150,000 added, 3yo only, 1m 2f 88y, Class 1
Thursday 12th May 2016

1 Wings Of Desire 9/1
2 Deauville 13/2
3 Foundation 13/2
12 ran Distances: 1½l, nk, 2¾l
TIME 2m 7.37s (slow by 0.17s)

Frankie Dettori on Wings Of Desire wins the Dante from Deauville as Midterm is well beaten

Wings Of Desire
© Racehorse Photos

Wings Of Desire put himself into the Investec Derby picture after getting up close home to win impressively.

After capturing the Group Two prize 12 months ago with subsequent Derby and Arc winner Golden Horn, trainer John Gosden celebrated another victory in the event thanks to the efforts of the recent Wolverhampton maiden winner.

Selected by Frankie Dettori over last year's Royal Lodge winner and stablemate Foundation, the decision proved to be a wise one.

Held up early on the 9-1 shot was produced to challenge the Aidan O'Brien-trained Deauville deep inside the final furlong of the extended mile-and-a-quarter prize.

As the pair battled it out it was to be the son of Pivotal that was to get the verdict by a neck, with Foundation a further length and half back in third.

Favourite Midterm failed to replicate the performance of his previous two runs and after coming under pressure early on in the straight could only keep on to finish fifth.

Dettori said: "Everybody kept on knocking him. I knew this horse could be anything and we proved it today. And I think if he goes further he'll be even better.

"I took a pull early in the straight because he's very raw and when he hits the front he's mentally immature so I wanted to use Ryan (Moore, on Deauville) as a target.

"When I asked him to quicken he gave it to me and we won.

"He can only improve, it was only his third day at school, and we know there's plenty more to come, so we will roll the dice (supplement for Epsom) and give it a go."

Gosden said: "This horse is still learning. He's gone from a maiden to Wolverhampton to here. This horse never did a half-speed piece of work until the middle of March, so consequently he's still learning a lot.

"We'll take him to Epsom to let him have a feel of the hill. He's still very much a baby.

"He's freakish. He showed me things early on, I thought 'goodness'. He's so laid back.

"I took him out of the Derby in March as I thought he was for the King Edward VII Stakes, like his brother Eagle Top. That was my plan and it has obviously changed.

"He went round a bend at Wolverhampton and learnt a lot. He's still learning, he's come here and won a Dante. There's a lot more to come and all being well we'll go to Epsom.

"For a horse like this to come from no education in a sense as a two-year-old and to come and win a Dante is pretty special.

"He stays well let's hope his inexperience doesn't undo him, but there's no reason not to go."

On Foundation, Gosden said: "We are clear about him. He got boxed in, got out late and William (Buick) got off him and said that's his trip.

"We've always known he's a Prix du Jockey Club horse. He will go to Chantilly the day after the Derby. That's the plan for him, he ran a blinder. We're very happy with him, he got rolling late."

Sky Bet went 4-1 from 25-1 about Wings Of Desire for the Investec Derby.

"That was pretty impressive considering it was just the third quick run of his career," said spokesman Michael Shinners.

"He's obviously not in the Derby but Gosden seems more definite about Wings Of Desire being supplemented than he was about Golden Horn a year ago. And we all we know what happened there.

"We go 4-1 and if he was still in the Derby he might be a touch shorter."

Betfred Dante Stakes (Group 2)
£160,000 added, 3yo only, 1m 2f 88y, Class 1
12 ran
Going: Good to Firm, Good in places