HOME TEAM LOOKING STRONG FOR ENGLISH DERBY

Ian Fortune

With this year’s Irish Derby pushed back to November due to the promise of works getting underway at Shelbourne Park, there will understandably be extra focus on the Star Sports/ TRC English Derby at Towcester with the Irish expected to mount a big challenge.

Certainly, the early signs would suggest it will be the biggest raiding party for quite some time with many likely to take advantage of the changed Irish calendar.

There is no doubt a number of Irish trained stars will be fancied to go deep in the competition but the home challenge may prove to be considerably stronger than in recent years. Of course, the Irish have landed four of the last five renewals of the classic with Thorn Falcon the one English trained winner in 2021.

Priceless Blake in 2019, Deerjet Sydney in 2020 and the Graham Holland trained duo of Romeo Magico and Gaytime Nemo in the last two years are the four Irish trained winners in question.

The prospect of ten or more Irish handlers targeting this year’s Derby is a real one. Certainly, Graham Holland, Paul Hennessy, Brendan Matthews, Jack Kennelly and Liam Dowling look very likely to travel again, while Pat Buckley has strongly hinted that he will return to Towcester after skipping the event in 2023. Throw in a few more that have ventured in the past and it could see a huge Irish team crossing the water.

However, things may not be as straightforward for the Irish this year. As we speak, many of the top ten in the betting are trained in the UK. Liz McNair has unleashed a few potential superstars in recent months with King Capaldi and King Memphis strongly fancied in the market.

Tom Heilbron has hinted that he could potentially take in the Gold Cup at Shelbourne Park with his razor-sharp star Links Maverick. The son of Grangeview Ten happens to be joint favourite with sponsors Star Sports for Derby glory.

Last year’s runner-up Romeo Command continues to impress for Patrick Janssens, while Mark Wallis is building a strong team which is currently headed by Newinn Syd. Add in Queen Joni, Churchfield Syd, Droopys Clue and a few more and things could get very competitive in June.