SUNDAY is Derby day.
The CoinShares Jersey Derby is the main event on the programme and although it’s not numerically big, it has attracted the cream of the local crop over the classic mile-and-a- half distance.
Team Malzard is responsible for half the field including last year’s victor Roi Du Monde. Fred Tett rode him that day, but on Sunday Tom Buckley, a conditional jockey best known on the jumping circuit, will be in the saddle.
Tett, with a full book of rides at Les Landes on Sunday, warmed up with a win at Salisbury on Wednesday. Riding Amanthus, a 10/1 shot, he won the Highclere Castle Horse Feeds Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap in a tight finish.
After making late progress, Tett was strong in the final half furlong and got Amanthus up in the final stride to win by a head. Tett is fast becoming the have-saddle-will-travel jockey with rides, and wins, in several countries.
Apart from the likely favourite Maquignon in the CoinShares Jersey Derby, Tett rides Bigup, Never Said Nothing, She’s a Mirage and Clear Man, all for trainer Alyson Malzard.
Fred Tett will be on Maquignon – he gets the ride because Victoria Malzard is sidelined with a broken collarbone. Tett knows the horse and rode him to an easy win last time after Malzard had been injured.
Cueros, one of the best-looking horses in training here, makes up Alyson Malzard’s trio.
Karl Kukk runs two, Between The Covers, who beat Roi Du Monde a fortnight ago, and Caustic, a well-bred son of Galileo who has yet to finish better than fourth since arriving here.
The field is completed by the mare, Nature, trained and ridden by Celine De La Haye.
Charlie Bennett comes over to keep the ride on Between The Covers and, although with something to find on official figures, they could be involved in the finish.
The question mark is over the trip, which might stretch her, a remark that applies equally to Cueros whose best runs have been at shorter distances.
On official ratings, Cueros is just a pound behind Maquignon, a revelation this season and bidding for his fifth consecutive win.
Roi Du Monde has half a stone to find on Maquignon according to the handicapper, but he is tough and will not go down without a fight. The other two look out of their depth and hoping to pick up some place money.
The Millbrook Handicap, sponsored by Geoff Somers, is a fitting appetiser for the main event with nine lining up. The seven-furlongs trip brings together sprinters and milers like St Ouen, best over shorter, and Never Said Nothing, five times a winner over an extended mile.
Any follower of Al Farabi is probably hurting a bit in the pocket and, as the horse clearly has ability, it’s frustrating for his connections. In five local runs, he has had five different jockeys and on Sunday, Josh Bryan will become the sixth to try to get the horse’s head in front.
Top weight Profit And Loss doesn’t know how to run a bad race, while Bank On Kent, in the Maquignon colours, had a couple of good runs before flopping last time.
Alice Bond, three times his rider, switches to Profit And Loss. Cool Dandy has slipped down the weights and could be in the shake-up.
The Brady and Gallagher Handicap over nine furlongs is for horses rated 60 and below. The weights are headed by Fast Affair who travels from Sue Gardner’s Devon stable. The mare won over a similar trip off 57 for James Fanshawe before transferring and gets into this race with just a pound more.
Birkie Boy is in cracking form, while Arthur’s Angel, absent since May, has not won since June 2022; Tom Buckley who has ridden him before will be in the plate and it would not be a complete surprise if he ran a big race.
She’s A Mirage is a bit in and out, but has ability and will have Fred Tett’s assistance from the saddle.
Race five, The Medicann sixth Birthday Race is another low-level handicap, this time for horses rated up to 55.
Baynoona will run in colours familiar to regular local racegoers as she is part owned by Jane Edgar who, not so many years ago, enjoyed considerable success at Les Landes with horses owned with her late partner.
Trained by Sue Gardner, Baynoona was once rated as high as 70, but is still awaiting her first win.
The race could be just right for Allegro Jete who is versatile as to distance and is the winner of seven races here. Clear Man, won a Clarendon for Christa Cuthbert and enjoys his best opportunity for some time, while Flashy Apache and Touching Hands are not without a squeak.
It is a pity that such an important race day should start with a match, when George Bancroft and Bigup take each other on in the George and Leonora Sullivan Handicap Hurdle.
There wasn’t much between them last time and, although Bigup now has a pull in the weights, George Bancroft is in such good form he can win again.
Selections
George Bancroft
Profit And Loss
Maquignon
Fast Affair
Allegro Jete
