'You couldn't fault his Dante win' - Desert Crown takes aim at the Cazoo Derby

Saturday: 4.30 Epsom
Cazoo Derby (In Memory Of Lester Piggott) (Group 1) | 1m4f6y | 3yo | ITV/RTV

Desert Crown is the least experienced horse Sir Michael Stoute has ever sent to the Derby. The Dante told us he is good, the most coveted Classic of them all might tell us he is destined for greatness.

The strapping son of Nathaniel made an instant impression at Nottingham on his only start at two, stretching clear of a horse now rated 92 with raw power and ability.

Having initially been made a short-price favourite for the Dante, Desert Crown drifted all the way out to 7-2 with the consensus that he did not have enough experience for the most telling Derby trial of all.

However, he answered those questions emphatically, travelling through the race like the best horse before quickening right away from what was the most competitive field out of any of the trails.

It was even more decisive than the winning margin of three-and-a-quarter lengths suggested and Stoute was pleasantly surprised by what he saw.

4.30 Epsom: Cazoo Derby racecard and betting

He said: "I certainly wasn’t confident at York because I felt we were just there ready to go, but I knew he did more on the racecourse than at home as a two-year-old. You couldn’t fault the Dante performance, it was very efficient.

"It puts him in the reckoning and he did surprise me with how he won, which was a pleasing performance in a good solid time. If you win the Dante I don’t think you have to improve much more to win the Derby."

Stoute added: "We would have liked to get another run into him, but he had a bruised foot in the spring. He was just about to start fast work and had a hold up, which wasn’t too serious, but it did delay us.

"We were at York just in time and he’ll be going to the Derby as the most inexperienced we’ve ever sent, but he’s a nice athlete with a good attitude. He’s done nothing wrong on the racecourse."

It is a big day for Richard Kingscote, who has never won the Derby but has won a pair of Group 1s, albeit both in Ireland, with Havana Grey in the 2018 Flying Five Stakes and Brown Panther in the 2014 Irish St Leger.

'We've always liked him' - Stone Age captains formidable Ballydoyle team

Unable to win at two, but unbeaten at three. Stone Age was 50-1 with Paddy Power for the Derby at the beginning of April, but Aidan O'Brien has urged us not to read much into what he achieved as a juvenile – or, rather, what he did not achieve.

It was all about experience last year and that experience is standing to him now.

Stone Age looked a reformed character on his first start at three in a Navan maiden back in March, but how much can you read into it when he was 1-3 and the opposition were of limited ability?

It was in the Derby Trial at Leopardstown last month when he properly announced himself as a Derby contender. That display of relentless galloping from the front parachuted him into pole position on the Ballydoyle team following the injury to Luxembourg.

Stone Age, Changingoftheguard and Star Of India form a formidable Ballydoyle trio

O'Brien said: "It was the plan to give him plenty of experience last year and he did plenty of travelling to ensure that. We weren’t disappointed that he didn’t manage to win one last year as he was only just pipped in a few races.

"He has done well over the winter, but he was always a big, strong colt and felt that he was a high-class. We think he has come forward from his last run and we are looking forward to it.

"He has never run beyond a mile and a quarter, but he is a good traveller and there is a good chance that he will get further. I’ve not really looked too much at the draw but I will talk to Ryan [Moore, jockey] and we will make a plan from there."

O'Brien is seeking a record-extending ninth victory in the Classic and Changingoftheguard could be a similar sort of colt to 2020 Serpentine – or even better judged by his relentless display of front-running in the Chester Vase.

The man who knows him better than anyone thinks he is very straightforward and it certainly looks that way.

O'Brien added: "He's a very straightforward horse to deal with. It was always the plan to take our time with him last season.

"He is a very relaxed horse and we will discuss with Wayne [Lordan] as to what he thinks is best from his draw in 16, but given how straightforward he is hopefully he will be fine from that draw."

Lordan, seeking his first Derby success, was on board Changingoftheguard when he won his maiden at Dundalk in April, while Seamie Heffernan has been the super sub at Ballydoyle for decades and takes the ride on Star Of India.

Heffernan has a Derby win on his CV thanks to Anthony Van Dyck in 2019 and this time around he renews his relationship with the Dee Stakes winner, who he won a Leopardstown maiden on board.

You have to go all the way back to Kris Kin in 2003 to find the last Dee Stakes hero to follow up in the Derby, but O'Brien believes he has the right mentality to cope with the big day.

He said: "The last day we stepped him up in trip and it appeared to suit him. He seemed to get it really well and I’m sure he will get further.

"He is a very uncomplicated horse that doesn’t get flustered, which is important for a horse going to Epsom."

'William made his mind up that if we decided to run this horse he would ride him'

Charlie Appleby knows what it takes to win the Derby, given he has trained two of the last four winners of it, so the decision to fork out £75,000 to supplement Nations Pride should be taken very seriously.

It is amplified even further especially as he is the chosen one of William Buick, who seeks a second victory after Masar's success in 2018.

Nations Pride has won four in a row since his debut defeat in a Yarmouth maiden and his Listed win at Newmarket in April was his best display yet. Indeed, he is only officially rated 1lb below hot favourite Desert Crown.

Last year's winning jockey Adam Kirby has once again been booked by the owners, this time for the Blue Riband Trial winner Nahanni, while James Doyle takes the ride on Walk Of Stars.

Appleby said: "We have put these three horses in as we strongly felt they were right for the race, hopefully one of them will prove good enough to win it.

"Being drawn in five is nice for Nations Pride and is a horse with plenty of experience having already been out to Dubai. The first half of the race everyone will be jostling for a good position, but he's a horse that has got natural pace.

"William can hopefully park him up where he feels it is right to be. William made his mind up that if we decided to run this horse he would ride him."

Nations Pride: the choice of William Buick in the DerbyCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Explaining his decision to side with Nations Pride, Buick said: "He’s a very straightforward, well-balanced colt who saves his best for the track.

"When he won at Newmarket I really stretched him and he really saw it out well. His best part of the race was the last part and that would indicate he’s going to stay, but more importantly he travels well and he’s got speed."

On his other two contenders, Appleby added: "I’m really happy with Walk Of Stars and mentally he has come forward a lot in a short space of time. We’ve seen the engine at home and we saw glimpses of it on the racetrack mixed with a bit of rawness and immaturity.

"Nahanni is a horse going there with no pressure at all. Adam Kirby knows his way around this course and distance blindfolded and the horse ticks a lot of boxes, having won the Blue Riband Trial here over a mile and a quarter.

"He was doing all of his best work in the last half a mile that day and he is a willing horse with a willing rider on."

'The step up in trip will suit' - Donnacha O'Brien aims to carry on family tradition

Donnacha O'Brien achieved an awful lot in a very short space of time in the saddle, but he never managed to win the Derby, with his final attempt coming on Broome when a close fourth to stablemate Anthony Van Dyck in 2019.

He has not been in his new job long but he the 23-year-old has already managed to find a live Derby contender in Piz Badile and has even booked Frankie Dettori for the occasion.

Piz Badile certainly wants to win, given he defied a Betfair in-running high of 33-1 to make a winning debut at Killarney and went all the way out to 99-1 in-running before winning the Ballysax at Leopardstown last time. He looked beaten in both but was beaten in neither.

It is not too long ago since Harzand and the late, great Pat Smullen completed that double in 2016, while Galileo and High Chaparral did it in 2001 and 2002 respectively as well.

Speaking about Piz Badile, the trainer said: "He’s in good form and everything has gone well since Leopardstown. We think the step up in trip will suit and we’re hoping for a good run."

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Derby day previews:

2022 Cazoo Derby pinstickers' guide: quotes and ratings for every horse

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