Betfred Derby Festival gallops morning | Ralph Beckett aims Bay Of Brilliance at Betfred Derby

The Kimpton Downs Stables handler is confident that the son of New Bay, who is a 14/1 chance with the race sponsor, can give a good account of himself in the world’s most famous Flat race on June 6.

After signing off last year with a brace of wins at Goodwood and Redcar, the Valmont-owned colt returned with a close second stepped up to Listed level in the William Hill Lingfield Derby Trial earlier this month.

And on the back of that effort Beckett, who has had six previous runners in the Derby, feels that Bay Of Brilliance can take another step forward in the prestigious Group One test, which is worth £1million to the winner.

Beckett said: “He is in good form. I was very pleased with the Lingfield effort. It was a good effort, and everybody could see that.

“He has come out of it well and I was delighted with the way he handled the track at Lingfield. We suspected that as he is a well balanced individual.

“I think that although he didn’t run at a higher level at two he went around Goodwood and Redcar and he looked professional both times.

“It wasn’t surprising that he enjoyed Lingfield, or come out of the race as well as he has. He is worthy of his place and we look forward to it.

“I think he has shown he is good enough to go to Epsom and that he is the right sort of horse to take to Epsom. It is just a question as to whether he is good enough and only on the racecourse can tell us that.”

WATCH: Bay Of Brilliance finishes second in Lingfield Derby Trial

However, one horse that seems unlikely to appear at the iconic Surrey venue is K Sarra, who appeared to fail to handle the undulations of the track during the annual Betfred Derby Gallops Morning on Tuesday.

The daughter of New Bay, who finished third in the Group Three Tattersalls Musidora Stakes at York on her last start, appears set to swerve the Betfred Oaks on June 5th in favour of a tilt at the Group Two Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot next month.

Beckett said: “I would think it is unlikely she will show up on Friday week. My first reaction after York was that she would head to the Ribblesdale, and today rather confirmed that.

“It was a good piece of work as we didn’t hang around, but she just didn’t handle it as well as we hoped.

“The mile and a half looks like it will suit her so we will probably go to the Ribblesdale.”

The chances of Beckett, who has won the Oaks on two occasions with Look Here in 2008 and Talent in 2013, securing a third triumph in the mile and a half Group One now look likely to rest on Weatherbys Cheshire Oaks third A La Prochaine.

He added: “I think at this stage it will probably just be A La Prochaine that we run in the race. She has trained well since Chester and I’ve been pleased with the way she is working and how she is looking.

“I think A La Prochaine is very light on her feet. I would be pretty hopeful she will handle it. She went around Chester pretty well for such an inexperienced filly. We decided not to bring her to Epsom as she went around Chester so well.

“I was pretty happy with how she took everything in at Chester. It was better than I expected. At Chester they have to walk through crowds and the crowd are close to them there throughout and that can be intimidating, but it wasn’t for her."

However, although Beckett is confident that the daughter of Lope De Vega will handle both the track, and occasion, he admits she is still very much an unknown quantity having had just the two starts.

Beckett added: “We don’t know how good she is yet. Her work has always been promising, but she is a very immature filly so we have had to tread carefully if you like.

“I’m confident she is up to the grade and I’m pretty confident she will handle the track. I'm not entirely certain how good she is.

“I would be confident that Bay Of Brilliance will run his race, providing we get a reasonable draw, whereas A La Prochaine is still an unknown quantity.

"It wouldn’t surprise me if she was in the first three nor would it surprise me if she is in the last three.

“That has happened to us before several times. I’ve taken fillies to the Oaks thinking that they are made for the place and the opposite has happened, and they have still turned out to be good fillies.

“The one I always remember is Ceilidh House, the dam of Kinross, who had a similar profile to A La Prochaine. She finished nearly last in the Oaks, but won a stakes race before the end of the year and produced Kinross.”

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