'I'd ride Nations Pride' - Charlie Appleby on Godolphin's Derby dark horse

Charlie Appleby believes the horse most likely to give Godolphin their third Derby winner in five years may not even be entered in the Epsom Classic – although he could be handed that late opportunity on Monday.

Appleby, who supplied Sheikh Mohammed's operation with Epsom aces Masar in 2018 and Adayar last year, was at the Surrey track on Monday to watch big-race contenders and take part in the Cazoo Derby gallops morning and confirmed the plan was to supplement Nations Pride, who landed the Listed Newmarket Stakes when last seen and is a 10-1 chance with Coral to triumph on June 4.

Cazoo Derby: racecard, entries and betting

Nations Pride also has the option of the Prix du Jockey Club, although Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Modern Games is pencilled in for that Chantilly prize.

"Nations Pride was impressive at Newmarket and he's in the French Derby, where we have Modern Games as well," said Appleby, whose Cazoo Coronation Cup contender Manobo was also at Epsom.

"He'll work on Wednesday then we'll make a decision as to whether we supplement him on Monday. We're hoping we will – there's only one Derby and you only want to go there if you think you can win it. He has a great profile and ticks most boxes out of our three possible runners."

Walk Of Stars (left): a promising second at Lingfield this monthCredit: Edward Whitaker

Appleby's stable jockey William Buick was due to ride in the second race at Leicester (1.50), so was not at Epsom. He missed out on Derby glory last year when he partnered Hurricane Lane behind the Adam Kirby-ridden Adayar and also suffered in the 2,000 Guineas recently, finishing second on Native Trail as James Doyle struck on the yard's Coroebus, although Buick has since won Classics in France and Ireland this spring.

Walk Of Stars, second in the Derby Trial at Lingfield, is a general 16-1 chance for Epsom, while Nahanni, who won the Listed Blue Riband Trial at the track on his last start and was partnered by Kirby on Monday, is 25-1 with William Hill.

"I feel the betting is correct with Nations Pride," said Appleby. "He's a neat, well-balanced horse. You could question pedigree-wise if he's got an abundance of stamina, whereas the other two do.

Adam Kirby riding Nahanni (right) with Patrick Hills on Walk Of Stars (centre) and Michael Metcalfe aboard Manobo (left)Credit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

"If I was to say which I'd ride and we get past Wednesday's gallop and see the wellbeing of , then – as we stand at the minute – he would be the horse.

"William is lucky because he sits on them anyway. Guidance-wise, I like to allow the jockeys to make the choice and if it's a bit leftfield I might say something, but I like them to ride what they're happy with.

"If I said William wasn't riding that, and would ride Joe Bloggs, then there might be negativity already there. If he's on the horse he feels has the best chance of winning, he's going out there thinking that. Wednesday's work will be the deciding point, but Nations Pride is the highest-rated and has done very little wrong."

Appleby added: "Walk Of Stars has all the ability in the world and we've always felt he has the engine to do something exciting.

"He’s still very much a work in progress and we brought him here today to get some more experience under his belt before the big day. He finds everything very easy and handles these undulating tracks well.

“As an individual, he’s very much like Adayar – he’s a big, scopey horse and surprisingly handles these tracks well. He’s agile and switches his leads smoothly."

Nations Pride is not the only horse set to be added to the Derby field as Mohamed Khalid Abdulrahim will supplement the Stan Moore-trained , fifth on his debut in a Newmarket Listed race recently.

Stan Moore: Lambourn trainer will have his first Derby runnerCredit: Caroline Norris (racingpost.com/photos)

He also exercised at Epsom on Monday and the Lambourn-based Moore, whose runner would be a massive price, said: "The owner bred him and he's a seriously nice horse. In that one run, he had to run to a mark of over 80 to qualify and that handicapper said he'd be about 85.

"There was a 50-1 second [Mojo Star last year] and 25-1 winner [Serpentine] the year before and another at 40-1 [Wings Of Eagles]. It's a big ask, but if you don't buy a ticket, you won't win a prize. I've never had a Derby runner and it's the greatest race in the world.

"He'll beat more horses than will beat him. He's pretty laid-back, well balanced, genuine and he'll stay."

Cazoo Derby (4.30 Epsom, June 4)

Coral: 2 Desert Crown, 5-2 Stone Age, 7 Piz Badile, 15-2 Changingoftheguard, 10 Nations Pride, 12 United Nations, Star Of India, 14 Walk Of Stars, Westover, 16 Eydon, Nahanni, 25 bar

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