Connections have decided to supplement New Ground for the Betfred Derby as the they feel the race will play to his strengths.
Juddmonte paid £75,000 on Monday to add him to the field at Epsom and Barry Mahon, their European Racing Manager, was happy to do so with Henri-Francois Devn’s charge.
“He’s always been a nice horse, Henri has always been very, very high on him,” he told Monday’s Nick Luck Daily Podcast.
“He won his first two starts as a two-year-old and this year he’s run two solid races in French Derby trials that were very slowly run, tactical affairs over an inadequate trip.
“We always felt a mile-and-a-half with a good pace would see the best of him and we initially thought of going to the Prix Du Jockey Club yesterday with him, but the owners felt it wasn’t going to play to his strengths so why not bite the bullet and give him a go at Epsom?
“He’s an outsider, he needs to improve again but we feel the race conditions will bring out the best in him and whether that’s good enough or not, we’ll find out on Saturday.
“He’s a medium-sized, scopey colt, and a very balanced horse. One of the key strengths Henri feels is that he’s a balanced horse so he thought that Epsom wouldn’t faze him too much and he’s quite a relaxed colt, so we’d be hopeful the track and the day won’t affect his ability."
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