John Oxx saddled the mighty Sea The Stars to triumph in the 2009 Investec Derby, having won the great race nine years earlier with the brilliant Sinndar, and the trainer could bid for a famous third win in the £1.25 million Epsom Downs Classic on Saturday, June 5, with Behtarini, one of 122 horses remaining following this week’s first scratchings stage.
The Aga Khan-owned Behtarini is still a maiden after three starts as a juvenile, the last of which saw him finish runner-up to subsequent Group One victor Jan Vermeer.
Oxx revealed: “We have given Behtarini an entry in the Investec Derby but it’s slightly speculative at the moment.
“He has been beaten three times but he has run up against some good horses. He would have to take a step forward now in the springtime if he was to measure up to be an Investec Derby contender but we thought that we would leave him in.
“He is in good form and we are just starting him off in his work. He is quite a nice horse but he would have to win his maiden and step up into a Derby trial before we would consider him for Epsom.
“The Investec Derby is the race that everybody wants to win - it is a marvellous event and a great test of a horse. It is a demanding mile and a half and that is one of the reasons that it has been such a successful source of stallions over the years - a horse needs all of the qualities to win.
“It was the race that made us feel that Sea The Stars was a special horse - we were pretty hopeful after the 2000 Guineas but it was at Epsom that Mick told me that he was one of the greats.”
Irish-trained horses have won five of the past 10 renewals of the Investec Derby, including the last two (2009 Sea The Stars, 2008 New Approach) and there are 48 horses from across the Irish Sea remaining in Britain’s richest race following the first scratchings deadline.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien claimed two of those Irish successes (2001 Galileo, 2002 High Chaparral) and the master of Ballydoyle is responsible for 40 of the remaining entries. The O’Brien/Coolmore contingent includes the unbeaten winter favourite St Nicholas Abbey, a runaway winner of the Group One Racing Post Trophy, and fellow Group One winners Beethoven and Jan Vermeer, as well as Group Two victors Cape Blanco and Joshua Tree. St Nicholas Abbey was ranked Europe’s top two-year-old of 2009 by the official handicappers who rated him 124, 5lb better than Jan Vermeer.
Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor is seeking a second success in Flat racing’s blue riband following Lammtarra’s win in 1995. Suroor has 16 entries including the promising maiden winner Burj Nahar and Haynes Hanson & Clark Conditions Stakes victor Ameer.
Sir Michael Stoute has won the Investec Derby on four occasions (1981 Shergar, 1986 Shahrastani, 2003 Kris Kin, 2004 North Light) and the Newmarket trainer has three entries going forward including the well-connected maiden Nibani.
Owner Hamdan Al Maktoum landed the Investec Derby in 1989 with Nashwan and has 10 horses still engaged, including Royal Lodge stakes runner-up Waseet.
The Royal Ascot Racing Club prevailed in 2005 with Motivator and its phalanx of members will be dreaming that trainer Michael Bell can work his magic once again with Prompter. The Newmarket handler also has Coordinated Cut, sporting the colours of city high roller Lawrie Inman.
Sinndar’s success in 2000 took the Aga Khan’s Investec Derby tally to four (1980 Shergar, 1986 Shahrastani, 1988 Kahyasi). The race’s most successful current owner could also see his colours carried at Epsom in June by Dibir and the Sinndar colt Sidpour, both of whom are in the care of French champion trainer Jean-Claude Rouget.
The last French-based horse to triumph was the Maurice Zilber-trained Empery in 1976 and there are currently a total of five horses trained in France still remaining, as well as three possible runners from Japan.
Andrew Cooper, Director of Racing at Epsom Downs Racecourse, commented: “We saw one of the greatest ever Epsom winners last year when Sea The Stars captured the Investec Derby in scintillating fashion and we are already counting down to this year’s race, which is now just three months away.
“The entries include the usual intriguing blend of top-class two-year-olds and less exposed horses and the countdown is now underway to find out who will emulate Sea The Stars at Epsom Downs on Saturday, June 5.”
