Frankel heads Derby entry list
12:31pm Thursday 3rd March 2011
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Last season’s joint European champion two-year-old Frankel heads 125 hopefuls going forward for the 2011 Investec Derby following this week’s scratching stage.
There are just over three months until Flat racing’s most famous prize is be contested at Epsom Downs on Saturday, June 4, and many classy three-year-olds are targeting the famous £1.25 million
Classic.
Frankel is one of four entries representing trainer Henry Cecil, who has saddled four previous Derby winners, and could also be represented by Yarmouth maiden winner First Mohican and the unraced
duo Flash Of Intuition and World Domination.
The Derby famously acquired its name at the toss of a coin between the 12th Earl of Derby and Sir Charles Bunbury, ahead of the first running in 1780 which was won by Bunbury’s Diomed. In 2011 the
12th Earl’s descendant, the 19th Earl of Derby, could see his iconic black and white silks carried by Voodoo Prince. A son of Kingmambo, Voodoo Prince is the first foal of the outstanding Ouija
Board, who carried the Earl’s colours to victory in the 2004 Oaks and went on to win a total of seven Group One contests all over the world.
Ed Dunlop, the colt’s trainer, revealed: “Voodoo Prince has done well over the winter. He has strengthened up and I have been pleased with his progress so far. He had a little setback at a slightly
critical time last year – it was nothing very serious but we decided to put him away.
“He obviously remains an unknown quantity but, having been entered in the Investec Derby last year, we thought that we would leave him in the race.
“He is probably a couple of weeks away from doing fast work and we might look at the Wood Ditton Stakes at Newmarket or a similar race for his debut.”
Aidan O’Brien has his usual strong team entered and among his 21 engaged are Group One Criterium International hero Roderic O’Connor, Recital, a five-length winner of the Group One Criterium de
Saint-Cloud, and Seville, who finished second in last season’s Group One Racing Post Trophy.
The Investec Derby is the only British Classic that the Queen has not won in an ownership career spanning more than half a century and she looks to have a live contender this year in the Sir
Michael Stoute-trained Carlton House, a nine-length maiden winner at Newbury in October. Stoute, successful in last year’s Investec Derby with Workforce, has won the race five times in total, the
best record of any current trainer.
Among other well-known owners chasing Flat racing’s most sought after prize are Lord Lloyd-Webber, represented by the dual winner Treasury Devil, and footballer Michael Owen, whose home-bred Brown
Panther won his only start last year.
Godolphin’s 18 entries, split between trainers Saeed bin Suroor and Mahmood Al Zarooni, include Saamidd, winner of Doncaster’s Group Two Champagne Stakes, Kempton maiden winner Badeel, and Maywood,
who scored in similar company at Brighton.
Along with Aidan O’Brien’s team, other Irish-trained entries include a trio from trainer John Oxx, successful with the great Sea The Stars in the 2009 Investec Derby. Among them is the Aga Khan’s
Gowran Park maiden winner Adilapour.
The nine French-trained entries include Maxios, an unbeaten half-brother to Arc hero Bago, trained by Jonathan Pease for the Niarchos family. Manhaj has won both his starts for trainer John Hammond
while Alain de Royer Dupre has engaged the Aga Khan’s winning duo Dildar and Vadamar.
Those going forward in the race at the confirmation stage on Tuesday, March 1, were all entered as yearlings and there is an £8,000 second entry stage on April 5 with a final chance to be added to
the field at a cost of £75,000 five days before the Classic on May 30.
Andrew Cooper, Director of Racing at Epsom Downs Racecourse, commented: “The last two runnings of the Investec Derby have seen a pair of brilliant winners in Workforce and Sea The Stars and all the
ingredients are in place for another great race in 2011.
“Top-class juveniles from last season and many unexposed three-year-olds go forward into the Investec Derby after this week’s confirmation stage, and no doubt other exciting names will be added to
the mix at the next entry opportunity on April 5.”
SIX TO WATCH CARLTON HOUSE (USA) b c Street Cry (USA) – Talented (Bustino) Form: 21- Owner: The Queen Trainer: Sir Michael Stoute Breeder: Darley The Queen came closest to Derby glory in her
coronation year, 1953, when Aureole was runner-up to Pinza. Carlton House could be her first Derby runner since 1981. After a pleasing second on debut at Salisbury, the Street Cry colt impressed
with a nine-length mile maiden victory at Newbury in October. Since then he has been entered in several top races including the Irish Derby, Prix du Jockey Club and Grand Prix du Paris. His dam,
Talented, won the 10-furlong Group Two Sun Chariot Stakes for Godolphin in 1993.
FRANKEL (GB) b c Galileo (IRE) – Kind (IRE) (Danehill (USA)) Form: 1111- Owner: Khalid Abdulla Trainer: Henry Cecil Breeder: Juddmonte Farms Ltd Frankel set alight the juvenile division last season
with a series of impressive victories. Following a mile maiden win at Newmarket in August, the Galileo colt stormed to a 13-length victory in a three-runner contest at Doncaster’s St Leger Meeting.
His first foray into Pattern company produced an awesome 10-length victory in the Group Two Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes at Ascot and the the Cecil-trained colt was duly sent off at odds on for the
Group One Darley Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket in October. Frankel was hampered early on in the seven-furlong contest but, after showing signs of immaturity, took command inside the final furlong
for a comfortable win. The Juddmonte home-bred is a three-parts brother to Lingfield Derby Trial winner Bullet Train, out of the Listed winner Kind, herself a half-sister to Group One winner
Powerscourt.
MAXIOS (GB) b c Monsun (GER) – Moonlight’s Box (USA) (Nureyev (USA)) Form: 11- Owner: Niarchos Family Trainer: Jonathan Pease FR Breeder: Niarchos Family The Niarchos Family homebred is a
half-brother to the same owner’s 2004 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero and five-time Group One victor Bago, from the family of Machiavellian. Maxios impressed on debut in a Longchamp maiden in
September, drawing four lengths clear of his rivals for an easy win. His only other start came on heavy ground at Saint-Cloud in October, when he dug deep to fend off Listed winner Private Jet to
land the Group Three Prix Thomas Byron. The last French-trained winner of the Derby was Empery in 1976.
RECITAL (FR) b c Montjeu (IRE) – Dibenoise (FR) (Kendor (FR)) Form: 11- Owner: Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrrick Smith, Mordukhovitch Trainer: Aidan O’Brien IRE Breeder: Mme Renee Geffroy
Caragh Bloodstock By Montjeu out of the unraced Dibenoise, Recital is a brother to Group One Prix Ganay winner Corre Caminos and a half-brother to high-class miler Racinger, and sold for 750,000
euros as a yearling at Arqana in August, 2009. A Navan maiden win in October preceded a comfortable five-length Group One triumph in the 10-furlong Criterium de Saint-Cloud in November.
RODERIC O’CONNOR (IRE) b c Galileo (IRE) – Secret Garden (IRE) (Danehill (USA)) Form: 3121- Owner: Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Sangster Family Trainer: Aidan O’Brien IRE Breeder:
Swettenham Stud Roderic O’Connor easily landed the Group One Criterium International over a mile at Saint-Cloud on his latest start in October. The Galileo colt’s debut at Leopardstwon in June saw
him finish third to subsequent Group Three winner Dunboyne Express. Having swept aside stablemate Master Of The Hounds at the Curragh later that month, he was given time to mature before contesting
the Group One Darley Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket in October when he led until headed by the winner, Frankel, and then stayed on gamely for second. His dam, Secret Garden, was a seven-furlong
Listed winner for the late Robert Sangster.
WORLD DOMINATION (USA) b c Empire Maker (USA) – Reams Of Verse (USA) (Nureyev (USA)) Form: unraced Owner: Khalid Abdulla Trainer: Henry Cecil Breeder: Juddmonte World Domination is unraced to date
but has a pedigree that suggests he could emerge as an Investec Derby contender this spring. His sire, Empire Maker, was a triple Grade One winner in the US, including when taking the 2003 Belmont
Stakes over 12-furlongs. World Domination’s dam is the brilliant 1997 Group One Oaks heroine Reams Of Verse, a half-sister to the top-class Elmaamul, who has produced Listed winner Many Volumes.
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