Balding aiming for Derby success
The Kingsclere trainer has yet to win the Group 1 race
A TOTAL of 13 horses have been declared ahead of this Saturday’s Investec Derby (16.30) at Epsom Downs with Telecaster and Bangkok aiming for local success.
Telecaster, trained by Hughie Morrison of East Ilsley, is the son of 2008 Investec Derby winner New Approach, whilst his dam Shirocco Star was second in the 2012 renewal of the Investec Oaks.
Unraced at two, Telecaster landed the G2 Dante Stakes at York on May 16, his third start, having previously captured a 10-furlong maiden at Windsor on April 15.
At Thursday’s Investec Derby draw, he was assigned to stall 2. No horse has ever won the Investec Derby from that berth, since starting stalls were introduced in 1967.
Telecaster chased home fellow Investec Derby entry Bangkok (9/1, stall 12), owned by King Power Racing, in a Doncaster maiden on March 30.
Trained by Andrew Balding and ridden by Silvestre de Sousa, Bangkok went on to capture the G3 bet365 Classic Trial at Sandown Park on April 26.
He will break from the same stall his Derby-winning sire Australia broke from in the 2014 Investec Derby.
When asked about Bangkok’s chances, the Kingsclere-trainer said: “He looks very much a horse that could be a player in the Derby which is still our flagship race of the summer as it’s one that I haven’t won.”
Britain's premier Classic takes place at 4.30pm on Saturday.
Investec Derby runners
Sir Dragonet; Broome; Telecaster; Anthony Van Dyck; Bangkok; Japan; Madhmoon; Circus Maximus; Line Of Duty; Norway; Humanitarian; Sovereign; Hiroshima.
