US Army Ranger and his chances of Epsom Derby success
Published:
Considering Aidan O’Brien has trained three of the last four Derby winners, it obviously makes sense to pay attention to the fancied runners he is planning to line up at Epsom.
Top of the pops so far has been US Army Ranger, who remains unbeaten after two career starts and is the son of 2001 Derby winner Galileo.
His victories in a maiden in Ireland and by a short head in the Chester Vase hardly scream out Epsom Derby winner, while he remains heavily inexperienced for a typical horse that wins this particular Classic.
However, his pedigree and unexposed nature make it hard to scratch US Army Ranger from any Derby shortlist and the fact he is trained by O’Brien also has a bearing on his odds. If he was trained by someone else, US Army Ranger would probably be longer odds than 4/1.
O’Brien does have seven of the 18 entered in the Derby and jockey bookings could be key. If Ryan Moore chooses US Army Ranger, this will be a significant positive to his chances.
The known plus points are that he should improve a lot for the experience of Chester and, like Epsom, the Cheshire city is not the easiest to negotiate. A faster early pace in the Derby should play to his strengths too.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
