DEBUSSY will head to Chester for Chester Vase next month after staking his Derby claims with victory in the Weatherbys Bank Blue Riband Trial Stakes at Epsom yesterday.
The Essex course opened their new £28million grandstand yesterday and the Derby is now firmly on the minds of all connected with racing.
Yesterday sporting the same colours of owner Princess Haya of Jordan that were carried to victory in last year’s Derby by New Approach, Debussy put himself in the picture for the Epsom showpiece on June 6 with victory in the trial run over the 1m2f of the Classic course.
Under Jimmy Fortune the John Gosden-trained 11-4 favourite scored well holding off Midday by a length and a quarter.
Debussy is a best-priced 25-1 chance for the Derby with totesport, bet365, Stan James, BlueSquare and Victor Chandler.
Gosden, who also won the same trial with Raincoat in 2007, said: “I am pleased with him and he will have learned a lot – this is a great track to teach a horse.
“We will take him to Chester for the Vase, and if he runs a decent race there then he will come back here for the Derby. It wasn’t a heavyweight decision to supplement for the Derby.
“He won well on Winter Derby day, and we then won the Lincoln (with Expresso Star), so had a bit of money in the kitty.”
Gosden and Fortune completed a double at Epsom as the former John Dunlop inmate Duncan (8-1) scored by tow and a half lengths in the Blue Square City And Suburban Heritage Handicap. Gosden added: “The ground is perfect here and the new grandstand is truly magnificent. This horse has matured a lot during the winter and another year on a horse’s back makes a big difference.”
Meanwhile Amerigo is the 8-1 totesport Chester Cup after the publication of weights for the feature of the May meeting on May 6.
The lightly-raced four-year-old, will carry 8st 13lb and trainer Michael Jarvis knows Anak Pekan to win the race in 2004 and 2005.
Tastahil is joint-top weight on 9st10lb with Macorville among 61 entries for the 2m2f handicap. The latter, trained by Mick Channon was second last year having finished fifth in 2007.
“This is always a tricky handicap to solve, but ante-post favourite Amerigo is relatively unexposed and it could just be that the handicapper hasn’t been able to get to grips with Michael Jarvis’ runner so far,” said totesport spokesman George Primarolo.
TODAY’S NAP: Antigua Sunrise (2.30pm Beverley)
