IN the world of romance, I’m a great believer that when you meet the perfect match the feeling is pretty instantaneous.
I know, call me an old softy, but yes there can be love at first sight. Can’t there?
If my theory is correct, then I’d hazard a guess Ryan Moore has already decided whether he desires to be partnered with Bolshoi Ballet or High Definition in the Cazoo Derby.
Oh to get inside Moore’s mind to find out which colt has more va va vroom, rather than va va voom, when you consider the sponsor’s love of horse power.
The problem is, of course, that we are most unlikely to know Moore’s Epsom mount until the forty-eight-hour declaration stage for the June 5 event.
Rest assured if Bolshoi Ballet is the Moore choice then he will solidify at the top of the market.
But if the former champion happened to end up on the back of High Definition then the market leaders could well flip-flop. It’s the power of Moore, or of love, as Frankie Goes to Hollywood once sang!
Both from the super sire Galileo, Bolshoi Ballet and High Definition are trained by Ireland’s champion Aidan O’Brien, who has three of the top six in the ante-post lists for the Epsom showpiece.
Bolshoi Ballet appeared to show acceleration lacking in every other Derby contender when quickening decisively off the bend in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial at Leopardstown.
I’m not absolutely sure the form is that strong, with many expecting big things from Jim Bolger’s Group 1-winning juvenile Mac Swiney simply because his handler had landed the 2000 Guineas.
That said, Bolshoi Ballet certainly took the eye in his turbo burst and it would be childish not to be impressed.
High Definition is built like a three-mile chaser, and would be tough to beat in the 2022 Triumph Hurdle.
His third in the Dante at York on Thursday certainly suggested there was much more to come once he gets to grip with racing.
But he clearly lacks speed. He’s more Teenoso or Slip Anchor than Dancing Brave (beaten but celebrated at Epsom) or Sea the Stars.
It’s very hard to have a strong view on High Definition because on the one hand he looks as though he’ll be completely outpaced in the Derby. But on the other there’s absolute belief he’s got bundles more to show us.
Many believe High Definition is more an Irish Derby type than one for the undulations of Epsom. But O’Brien game me the thumbs up for the real thing so, at this stage at least, it looks like all systems go.
Van Gogh is the other leading O’Brien contender, and while he showed little in the 2000 Guineas behind Poetic Flare he really did look a picture in the paddock. He’s got size and scope and some talent as he’s a Group 1 winner as a juvenile.
At the moment the Derby appears to be Coolmore v Dubai, with Mohaafeth, Hurricane Lane and Third Realm taking on Ireland for the United Arab Emirates.
Hurricane Lane has done nothing to annoy one at all, and battled on strongly to take the Dante. I’m not sure his Charlie Appleby-trained stable companion One Ruler should be 40-1 though. If he ran that looks big.
The real dark horse – though a chestnut – of the race, however, is Mohaafeth, for the Shaamit Derby winning boy William Haggas.
Now the latter’s stable has been in great form in 2021, and I truly think Haggas has turned into one of the great trainers of the turf.
That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, though, with wife Maureen a daughter of the great Lester Piggott. It’s a potent combination and works brilliantly.
Arguably the final piece of the Derby jigsaw is put in place at Newmarket today when on ITV John Leeper takes on a Fancy Man in the Listed Fairway Stakes. Ed Dunlop’s colt has shown much ability, although Fancy Man is better than his Chester third suggests.
In all honesty, the Cazoo Derby picture is a mosaic of twisted form lines with only Bolshoi Ballet having really shown their hand, but plenty of others with cards close to their chest which could yet trump the field. And if the ground came up soft I’d still beg Godolphin to run Adayar!
There are now just three weeks to go until the greatest Flat race of them all. But rather than seeing the winner in high definition, it’s a bit murky out there!
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