Derby De English – De Good One
STARSWEPT seems to get better as the distance increases, and this is reflected in his #11 ranking in the long-dirt 3yo’s division. The seedly trainee by Elvstroem won the G2 South African Derby at this distance in his stakes debut last time out, in which he handed the promising STATIC ZARB a rare defeat. Should be tough today, at a nice 9/1.
SI TU SABES is still looking for his first graded-stakes win, but has hit the board in all three he has tried thus far, including a second in the 12-furlong Sydney Derby last time out. A son of Dynaformer, this ninth-ranked elenita trainee is the CPU’s 6/1 co-second choice, and should be right in the thick of things here.
THE ADULT ALARM is an interesting one (especially to me, since he’s mine). The speedy son of Street Sense is undefeated since switching to the sod, and has the fastest speed fig in the field. However, that was at 9 furlongs. Those last three eighths will say a LOT about just how good this guy is… He’s 7/1.
COVERING FIRE has tried the stakes level only once; that run wasn’t too good, but it was almost a year ago, and the Monsun colt looks like he’s on the improve. Trained by mtklaz09, he comes off a nice allowance win, and goes off at 13/1 here.
WITHERSPOON has finished fairly well in graded-stakes races in his last two tries, losing to some strong colts in the process; none of these are in today’s field. Trainer cocoabeach remains confident in his Daiwa Major colt: “He’s just now starting to figure things out, and he deserves a shot here”. The CPU agrees, making him 7/1.
PREGUNTA GRANDE bombed in his first graded-stakes try, but was right there until late in his last, the G3 Dee Stakes. Two extra furlongs look very tough for this desimster2 trainee by Red Ransom. 9/1 looks a little bit low.
LEGENDS OF ROCK seems to be getting better with each race thus far in his short career, and the simsters4 trainee by Rock Hard Ten is 2-for-2 in 10f-and-longer races, drawing clear in the late stages of both, which also happened to be both graded stakes races. He hasn’t gone 12 furlongs yet, but he gets better as he goes further, and it’s doubtful that just one more furlong will do anything but help this #7-ranked colt. He’s the 9/2 morning-line choice.
SEVENTH SENSE made his stakes debut last time out, crushing a slightly weak-for-the-level Grade 3 field by almost 5 lengths at 13 furlongs, drawing clear at the end. The CPU is impressed with this run, making the Montjeu colt trained by graf the co-second choice at 6/1. Class may be a question, but the distance ability seems apparent.
DRAG ME TO HELL was 2nd to the top choice in the G2 Hogwarts last time in only his fourth career start, making this one the “wise guy” horse here. A son of Galileo trained by asoiaf, he has been looking sharp in morning gallops and appears to be likely to fire a huge one today. At 7/1, he could be an interesing play.
STATIC ZARB took only his 2nd career loss in getting beaten by STARSWEPT last time out, and comes to Surrey looking for some big-money revenge. A son of fairly obscure sire Heliostatic, the lidman7 trainee is 10/1, and is certainly not without a shot here.
URBION has only one graded-stakes try in his career record, a distant 4th to two others in today’s field. This sansebas trainee looks to be in over his head here, but stranger things have happened; he is on the good side of the infamous “every other” pattern today. The son of Alkaased goes off at 14/1.
Fearless predictions:
LEGENDS OF ROCK seems the clear choice.
DRAG ME TO HELL looks most-eligible to improve here.
STARSWEPT should pick up the pieces for the show dough.
Good luck at the races!