It’s going to be a closely fought Derby. The final trial raises expectations

 It was like when the television is turned off at the moment when the striker is shaping to take a decisive shot on goal. Or when the screen fades as the hero in a detective film is about to reveal the identity of the murderer. The winning post in the June Grand Prix came in the midst of a fierce battle among five horses, one of which held the lead, while the other four were getting closer inch-by-inch. In short, the end of the Derby trial had everything that can be expected from a preparatory race for the Blue Riband, and foreshadowed a very open and balanced race for the Czech Derby. Sirius Shine is only the third horse in the last twenty years, after Nora Jeane and Pegas, to win the Winter Favourite Stakes for 2-y-os and then the June Grand Prix. For the second time this season, this representative of the DAR stable was showing what he is capable of. His performance in making all the running, with some clever changes of pace, will be analyzed from the left and from the right in the next few weeks by the Czech horseracing community. As far as the Derby is concerned, his performance allows various conclusions to be drawn. While trainer Allan Petrlík believes that Sirius Shine can win over a distance of 2400 metres with the same tactics, or with different tactics, the connections of the horses that finished from second to sixth will be visualizing, between now and June 21^st, how the extra 200 metres will tip the balance in their favour. The main preparatory race for the Derby also provided another finding: behind the evenly-balanced elite, there is quite a big gap.

In past years, the June Grand Prix could be spoken of as a Derby trial in which it was above all a matter of getting a sufficiently high handicap rating to qualify for the big race. This year, however, at least for the elite, this was not the case. Most of the good prospects already had the necessary rating, and came to Prague Velká Chuchle to gain experience and to sharpen up, or perhaps they had some tactical options to try out before the Derby. Touch of Genius (Galileo) and Tamarind Cove (Galileo) were running for just the third time in their careers. Oriental Sky (Tiger Hill), Sirius Shine (Sir Percy) and Napastnik (Tempelwächter) were appearing on the track for the second time this season. Icar (Halling) was making his first appearance in the Czech context, having raced in France until now, and so on.

The betting public sent Touch of Genius off as the 24:10 favourite. He had won easily at Velká Chuchle in mid May, and he looked much livelier in the parade ring this time round. Aldzarb (Duke of Marmalade, 40:10) also made a good impression, and was, on the contrary, calmer and more settled this time. The odds against Oriental Sky (60:10) shortened from double figures. He impressed with his compactness as a classical Derby horse, as did Sirius Shine (70:10), winner of the Winter Favourite Stakes, which radiated calmness. Others which left a good impression in the paddock were the well-built Icar, Dalewari (Desert Style), and the only filly in the field, Amga River (Dylan Thomas). However, Shamalgan’s half-brother Taimass (Shamardal), which needed a good result to get into the Derby field, sweated up, as did Mondego Bay (Egerton), which was nevertheless more concentrated than before his races in the spring.

Lack of space threatens: Everybody worried about collisions

As I walked through the parade ring, past groups of people discussing instructions, most of the trainers and riders were talking about the same thing. They were worried about the new placement of the inside rail, which left a very narrow space on the turn by the dormitory, and with a field of sixteen horses there was concern about collisions. At least half of the riders were receiving resolute instructions: “Get a good start, and try to keep near the front to avoid any collisions or bunching!” Just before the start, there was a good deal of nervousness at Velká Chuchle. The tension mounted outside the starting boxes. At the 2200 metre mark, directly in front of the stands, there is usually some commotion, and race commentator Jiří Zlámaný had to ask racegoers repeatedly to calm down. The noise in the stands first upset Mondego Bay, which almost jumped up on to Oriental Sky’s back, and then Gibb’s Beach burst out of box No. 1. Oriental Sky, in the next box along, was the other horse to have problems with being led in.

If some of the participants were reckoning with team tactics by trainer Arslangirej Šavujev, they were disappointed from the start. In addition to the fractious Gibb’s Beach, Amga River, winner of the Dr. Frankenberger Memorial, came a bit slowly out of her box, and from last place she could not do much to support her training partner, Aldzarb. Aldzarb had quite different problems at that time. As a result of the unusual placement of the barrier, he came out of the outside box right on the border between the grass and the sand track, and after the first few metres, for a split second, he touched the sand track with his back legs. Strictly speaking, this could have meant disqualification, but the horseracing commission generously ignored this moment. It would be harsh to criticize his jockey, Bauyrzhan Murzabayev who, in these circumstances and having a minimum of space, got himself out of this precarious situation and straightaway energetically steered his horse towards the inside. This whole situation should be taken mainly as a starting point for a discussion on whether the regulation about the sand track is not distinctly old-fashioned, and incompatible with the rules in the advanced horseracing countries.

At least two jockeys took their horses energetically out of the boxes: Jaroslav Línek on Sirius Shine, and Martin Laube on Rabbit Mountnelson. They both went straight to the front. Oriental Sky also made an excellent start. His jockey, Milan Zatloukal, drawn in box No. 2, took expert advantage of Gibb’s Beach’s slow reaction in box No. 1. Zatloukal immediately took the inside line next to the rail, and parked Oriental Sky behind the leader, Sirius Shine. At the opposite end of the field, there was feverish activity with Murzabayev hurrying Aldzarb along, trying to get into a better position within the first 200 metres from box No. 16. Dalewari and Jiří Chaloupka got off to a good start, but box No. 14 was not lucky for them. Chaloupka took a look at the impenetrable wall of horses’ bodies on his right, yielded his position alongside the leading horses to Václav Janáček on Brother Grimm, and set about at least joining the first wave.

Just when it seemed that the order of the leading places was about to break down, the finishing post arrived. Sirius Shine held on for victory by one-and-a-half lengths, ahead of Oriental Sky, which was half a length ahead of Aldzarb in third place. Fourth-placed Touch of Genius was a further length behind in fourth place, a head in front of his stablemate, Tamarind Cove. Sixth-placed Icar was three lengths further back, and then there was a gulf of 3½ more lengths before Amga River finished in 7^th place, with Mondego Bay 8^th and the exhausted Rabbit Mountnelson in 9^th place.  Dalewari finished in 11^th place, Artaban was 13^th, and Taimass finished in 16^th position, 23 lengths behind the winner.

They were not flat out, the real battle will be in the Derby

In the weighing room after the race, the words spoken by Tomáš Lukášek a week earlier resounded. He had said that his biggest regret about leaving the DAR stable was that he would be leaving Sirius Shine. In recent weeks, several jockeys have been revolving around the chestnut colt owned by Rostislav Kopecký’s DAR stable, but none of them had seemed to be a promising option for the Derby. In the Czech Two Thousand Guineas, he was aggressively ridden by Jan Rája, but on Sunday Rája had to give precedence to a horse from the stable that he rides for. Milan Zatloukal works at Krabčice [the training centre owned by Rostislav Kopecký], but he is under contract to the Patrik ČR stable, and Václav Janáček, who was also approached, will probably be riding in the Swiss Derby rather than the Czech race. Trainer Allan Petrlík resolved the situation by engaging Jaroslav Línek for both races, and the dress rehearsal indicates that the luck is with him.

The tactics on Sunday emerged to a considerable extent from fears of collisions in the first bend. “It’s true that trainer Petrlík set his heart on me hurrying out of the box, because of the distance of 2200 metres, the big number of horses, and the narrowed track. I was told to hurry him out of the box, even if it meant having to take the lead,” Línek admitted. “For the rest of the rest of the race, I was to do what I thought best, either to sit in behind the leading horses or, if necessary, to take it on myself. After the start, I attempted to drop back and let someone else go on ahead, but no-one wanted to take the lead, so I took it on myself. We slowed down the first part of the race, then we kicked on, and when we reached the straight I began to believe we could do it. I only had to click my tongue, and the horse accelerated. I don’t see that the extra 200 metres of the Derby should be much of a problem. Today, too, I think that he’d have found a bit more if some horses had arrived at the finish, and he wasn’t alone in the lead for long. He’s an outstanding horse, and easy to ride. After getting to know him today, I think there are various ways that we can go in the Derby.”    

Second-placed Oriental Sky confirmed that the hopes placed in him were justified, and it can be assumed that he will now be one of the favourites for the Derby. Specially since, despite the good impression that he made in the parade ring, it could be seen that he still has something in reserve and should continue to improve. “In a word, I’m delighted. This is a horse that takes it easy throughout the race. He does not get worked up, and he doesn’t waste his energy. At Ebreichsdorf, he showed that he can fight it out with a quick filly over 400 metres, but today this was a proper preparatory race, just the way it should be,” trainer Čestmír Olehla said. This may be Olehla’s first real chance to win the Derby since Arcibaldo. “All we needed was another fifty metres and we would have won, or at least come close. The extra 200 metres next time out will help him a lot. Today was the first long race in his life, and it suited him. I have the advantage that I have been riding him since he was a 2-y-o, and I know some of his ways. He has a finish, but it takes him some time to get going. Today at the beginning of the straight I said to myself: What’s happening? Should I go for it, or shouldn’t I? And then he got going perfectly,” jockey Milan Zatloukal enthused.

Third-placed Aldzarb showed some progress over his two previous starts, mainly in terms of his well-known playing up. From his starting position in the 16^th box, he got up to 4^th place by the dormitory. However, this probably cost him plenty of effort, and at the end of the race Bauyrzhan Murzabayev tried not to push him too much. “He performed really well, but he needed a slightly quicker pace. In the finishing straight, he gave me a good feeling. He pulled to the left a bit, but if I had pressed him he could have found an extra couple of lengths, and it might have been enough for him to win,” Murzabayev reflected. “He has finally settled down. You could see it in the parade ring,” trainer Arslangirej Šavujev added. “I was very afraid of a collision at the first turn. I don’t understand how somebody could have done that with the barrier. Now we can think about the Derby. I would like to run both of the colts, and an English jockey will probably come over for one of them. As for Amga River, we’ll have to have a discussion. Personally, I wouldn’t need her to be in the Derby, but the owner is interested. I won’t press the filly, and we’ll see.”

Josef Váňa sent a cavalcade of four horses for the race, and it all turned out according to expectations. The best two of them contended for leading positions, while the two horses that were placed in the rather weak field for the Dr. Frankenberger Memorial were not able to take on the best. “It was quite clear today that the two Statek Blata Český Ráj colts have a good chance in the Derby. Mr. Nesládek and I agreed that Gibb’s Beach will wait for the Slovak Derby, because he is still a child, and Brother Grimm showed that he won’t be a Derby horse. But I will be straight with you. All four of them still have not fully lost their winter coat. We’ll be aiming Touch of Genius and Tamarind Cove at the Derby. If we’d finished first and second, it would have been better, but as a preparatory race it seems quite OK to me – even if I’ve just been given a dressing down by my son,” Váňa said, with a smile.

For his many fans. Touch of Genius’s 4^th place was a slight disappointment. He was one of the four attackers, but he did not get into a position where he might have directly threatened the winner. However, it is worth remembering that this was only the third race in his career, and the first time for him to face such a big and high-quality field. “He didn’t disappoint me. He started well, he got through the big field without colliding, and I can’t say that I pressed him hard at the end of the race. When Tamarind Cove came up to him on the outside, I was pleased with the way he fought back. We wanted to be at the head of the field because of the way the track had been narrowed, and to avoid getting any unnecessary knocks. I let him get a bit overexcited after the start of the race, and it was not until the 1 400 metre mark that I was able to get him settled and calmed down, the way he had been when he won last time out,” Jaromír Šafář said.

His stable companion Tamarind Cove got a worse run. On the bend, he had to run further out than his jockey Jan Verner wanted, and when he tried to put in his finish he got mixed up with weakening horses. “We’ll see how much today took out of him, but I thinkJaromír and I spared both of the horses. It doesn’t matter that we were fourth and fifth today, but next time we have to fight for first place,” Verner said with a smile, adding that for this son of Galileo the Derby distance should not be a problem.

Icar, a mystery horse for Czech fans, finished outside the first five. Petr Foret did not hurry him along, in spite of the slow pace, and on the Lahovice bend he was still waiting in last place. In the finishing straight, he tried to come with a run on the outside, in order to avoid colliding with other horses. “We took the race as a work-out, because his last serious run was on April 10^th, so it was seven weeks since he’d had a proper race. He went well today, but the Derby will be something different. It’ll be a faster race. I don’t see why he shouldn’t have a chance. 2400 metres will be better for him. He comes with a fast finish, and needs to get a run,” Foret said.

Michal Lisek, trainer for the Pegas stable, can for now count only on Icar for the Derby. Napastnik finished 12^th, and did not improve his chances of getting into the Derby field. “If Napastnik doesn’t get into the Derby, we’ll think out something else for him. They are different types of horse, and Napastnik has less class. However, some kind of teamwork can always be worked out,” Lisek said in the weighing room, and it seemed that he was carefully weighing every word that he said to the journalists. “Icar is surely a good horse, but he’s a 3-y-o colt, by Halling, and from a family of late developers. It’s necessary to figure him out, and to make concessions to him, so that he feels OK. After his last run, we didn’t find any health problems with him, and today’s result indicates the same thing.”

The trial as a warning: Next time, try something different

Mondego Bay finished eighth, and was again the better of the two Rabbit Trhový Štěpánov colts, but he finished almost 10½ lengths behind the winner, and this does not give cause for much optimism in Pičín. “We did not get the best of runs. He comes from behind, and he had to run the whole bend on the outside, and then running on the outside in the finishing straight cost him a better position. If he goes for the Derby, we’ll try to think up something a bit different. It is too early for an analysis of Rabbit Mountnelson’s performance, but I’m weighing up whether he can manage an even longer race. We’ll probably scratch him…” trainer Petr Juránek said after the race. Rabbit Trhový Štěpánov also has available Valmont Ohne, which will run in the trial race at Bratislava next Sunday.

Disappointment could be seen in Radek Holčák’s team. Although they won two of the smaller races on Sunday, the better of their Derby entries, Dalewari, finished in a well-beaten 11^th place, and the only winning three-year-old in the Monte Negro stable [winner of the last three Czech Derbys] this year is Playstarabad, which won a Category IV race on Sunday. At Velká Chuchle on Sunday, Dalewari left two impressions – that he seems not to be a horse that willingly gives his all, and that there is by no means the same chemistry between him and Jiří Chaloupka as there was with last year’s Derby winner, Cheeky Chappie. “He’s just a horse that doesn’t want to give everything. His start was not bad, but he doesn’t have that moment when he improves, and he does not have much of a finish. When there is no room on the bend, and I drop him back a bit, or when the pace slackens, he loses his rhythm and he doesn’t want to get it back. It’s as if it’s no fun for him … Perhaps it’s necessary to leave him until the last kilometer, and make sure there is some space for him. At least, that’s the feeling that I have,” Chaloupka reflected.

Knowing that František Holčák had the same trouble with Kadyny before he won the Derby three years ago, it is too soon to write Dalewari off. However, the stable knows well that some fundamental changes will have to be made before the Derby. “I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to try out what we wanted to do today. I explained to Jirí that he needs to go off in front, from second or third place, and under pressure. Dalewari keeps on at the same tempo. We wanted to try out some other tactics today, but we didn’t succeed. He dropped back, he lost his position on the bend, then he came out of the depths of the field, but he didn’t make any progress,” Radek Holčák complained.

For Artaban, Duke and Taimass, Sunday was the end of their Derby aspirations. “We wanted him to have some horses in front of him, and for him to show in the finishing straight whether he is good enough… The connections have decided that he won’t go for the Derby,” said Artaban’s jockey Jan Rája. This two-time Czech champion jockey is now free for other offers for the high point of our season.

Written by Martin Cáp, who has been writing a Derby Diary http://derbyzapisnik.martin-cap.cz/p/blog-page.html since he was a teenager, translated by Robin Healey.

Anyone interested in the Derbys run in Central Europe should study Martin’s diaries, which go back over many years.

The other major trial race for the Czech (and Slovak) Derbys, the Allianz Prize, will be held at Bratislava on Sunday, June 7^th. Most of the ten declared runners are entered for the Czech Derby.