Wings Of Desire and his chances of Epsom Derby success
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In the last decade, eight winners of the Dante Stakes have lined up looking for a double in the Epsom Derby.
Authorized won both races in 2007, while the John Gosden-trained and Frankie Dettori-ridden Golden Horn landed the two victories last year. A further three of this eight finished among the places at Epsom.
This highlights what a respected trial the Dante is and Gosden and Dettori have the same double in their sights this year with Wings Of Desire, who unbelievably hadn’t seen a racecourse until April.
His Dante win looked more about stamina than pure speed last time and so Wings Of Desire should relish this step up in trip to 1m4f, while further improvement can rightfully be expected based on his inexperience and the fact he has still only raced three times.
Dettori could have been slightly more optimistic recently when saying: “There are 10 horses in the Derby who could be as good as mine but I’m looking forward to the challenge,” though this is among the more open Derby fields of recent times.
However, he has had the benefit of a workout already around Epsom’s undulating course and looks better suited to the Derby than Golden Horn did last year, especially on breeding.
A position co-heading the Derby market at 4/1 seems more than fair based on achievement so far and potential.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
