PLUCKY Pyledriver is out to prove money can’t buy you everything in the Great Voltigeur.
Led out unsold at £10,000 when a foal, he’s already dented some big reputations on the racecourse.
And he takes on the powerhouse pair of Mogul and Darain in York’s Leger trial – two horses who cost a whopping £3.4 and £3.5 million.
But William Muir’s star had Mogul nearly five lengths back when winning the Group 2 King Edward at Royal Ascot.
He carries a 3lbs penalty for that success, but he’d be half his current price if he wasn’t trained by Muir. And that’s according to the man himself.
He laughed: “We beat Mogul at Ascot, and if my lad had been trained by Mr Gosden, Mr Haggas for example there’s no way we’d be 10-1 for this!”
After his day in the sun at Ascot, the Derby dream was next and why it ended in despair, there are still big plans down the line.
Muir said: “I guarantee had we got a proper run in the Derby we would have been in the first four.
“We nearly got taken out at the start and we were last the whole way around after that.
“He’s had six weeks off now and is in great shape. We wanted to go to Germany for a Group 1 but couldn’t risk it.
“It’s been too hot to take him over and the COVID rules are always changing.
“We think he’ll love the Leger trip so that’s the next step if it all goes well here.
“He’ll always be considered an underdog but I know how good he can be. We’ve beat some big names already and I can’t wait to run him at York.”
Aidan O’Brien’s Mogul heads the betting after his win in the Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.
He has plenty of ground to make up with Pyledriver but has improved with each run and has always been a star in the eyes of his Irish trainer.
O’Brien said: “He’s built like a miler – he’s a big, strong, powerful horse who carries a lot of weight, so it was always going to take racing to get him tuned up.
“We were delighted with him at Goodwood and we still think there’s more to come from him.”
John Gosden’s Darain steps up in class after two smooth wins in novice company.
He’s bred to be something special but the pressure is on him to deliver in a hot race.
A brother to Too Darn Hot, he’s not taken the same route as his sibling with a much steadier career to date. Time will tell whether he is a Group 1 contender.
Champion Jockey Oisin Murphy will partner Darain and said: “He’s stepping up in distance again and this is a big step up.
“But he’s improving all the time and is training really well.
“This is a huge step up in class but we’ve always been really excited about him so we’ll learn plenty.”
Others shorter in the betting than Pyledriver are the Paul and Oliver Cole trained-Highland Chief and Roberto Escobarr from the William Haggas yard.
