Breakfast wrap: 5 things from 'Breakfast with the Stars'

Moore a 'definite possible' for Cliffs

“I thought Aidan’s interview was as good as ever, charged with the ministry of disinformation,” joked John Gosden, after the Ballydoyle handler had finished on the phone at the ‘Breakfast With The Stars’ event at Epsom on Tuesday morning.

True, we had an understated ‘definite possible’ when Aidan O’Brien was loosely talking about potential jockey bookings for his Derby team and the possibility that Ryan Moore would ride ante-post favourite Cliffs Of Moher.

“Ryan will get all the information and talk to everybody, but I wouldn’t say it’s a foregone conclusion, though it is a definite possible,” said O’Brien.

That's about as close as we are going to get to O’Brien admitting Cliffs Of Moher is his number one Derby hope, and the feeling is the son of Galileo has been giving his handler all of the right signals following his victory in the Dee Stakes at Chester earlier in the month.

“Before Chester we weren’t even sure he’d get a mile and a quarter. He’s out of a fast mare and we were extra happy with him at Chester as he was relaxed and then went to the line very strong.”

As for the rest of his Derby team ‘they should all come forward again’. As for his Oaks team Rhododendron and Alluringly are the two he is happy with at the moment.

When it comes to actual news regarding O’Brien’s team and Epsom it came when he was discussing the Investec Coronation Cup, as Seventh Heaven, 9/4 favourite in the ante-post betting with Sky Bet, has been ruled out for most of the season.

“Seventh Heaven has had a setback so she will be out until the autumn,” said O’Brien.

“We’re thinking the brothers Highland Reel and Idaho will go to the Coronation Cup. Idaho is probably stronger and bigger than Highland Reel and we think he is progressing all the time and will progress through the year.”

Cracksman team wary of big field

“Ratings have never concerned me,” says John Gosden, when responding to Oli Bell’s question over whether Cracksman could be considered good enough off a rating of 107 going into the Derby.

He is up to 109 now, on the back of collateral form following Permian’s Dante win, but if ratings towards the top end don’t bother Gosden perhaps the numbers towards the lower end of the scale do.

Jane Chapple-Hyam’s Diore Lia will become the first filly to run in the race since Cape Verdi in 1992 and is running for charity, as her breeder Richard Aylward is donating any winnings to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

She has only beaten four horses in two starts, however, and perhaps she was on Gosden’s mind when he said:

“The biggest challenge is for the jockeys to get a clear run. It will be a big field, they’ll be one or two in the field wheeling backwards that probably shouldn’t have been in there and I think the jockeys have a bigger challenge than us trainers.”

As far as Cracksman is concerned, though, confidence appears to be growing.

“I think the mile and a half will be right up his alley,” said Gosden. “We didn’t supplement him for fun in April, Mr Oppenheimer was in the Galapagos and he gave me permission. We put him in at that stage as it is quite expensive.”

Anthony Oppenheimer himself was in more confident mood than he appeared to be pre-Dante and hopes are high Cracksman can give him, Gosden and jockey Frankie Dettori their second Derby success in three years following on from Golden Horn in 2015.

“He’ll definitely stay,” Oppenheimer said. “He’s quite laid back, but he’s woken up since Epsom.”

As for Dettori, an appearance on Loose Women later in the day appeared to be the furthest thing from his mind as he reflected on Golden Horn, while reiterating his trainer’s concerns about the large field.

“In my 30 year career it’s the biggest emotion I ever had for many reasons [winning the Derby on Golden Horn]. 

“Everybody says is it the best racing day of the year? Well, it’s only the best racing day of the year if you win it. 

“Epsom is a unique track and it looks like we’ll have a full field this year as well, so we’ll have to take that into consideration.”

Eminent delights Meade 

If you’ve glanced at Oddschecker on Tuesday morning you’ll have noticed Eminent has been cut across the board for the Investec Derby. Indeed, he’s 8/1 from 10s with Sky Bet.

That’s because he was the one that impressed onlookers the most in his piece of work on the Downs before breakfast, and his trainer was delighted with his son of Frankel as well.

“I was absolutely thrilled,” said trainer Martyn Meade. “He did exactly what we wanted him to do, it couldn’t have gone any better. It didn’t go according to plan in the Guineas, but I think this is his distance (1m4f).

“He hasn't been away from Newmarket in his entire life so I thought it was important to give him a new experience. He’ll have one more small piece of work now.”

Big-race jockey Jim Crowley partnered Eminent in his work on the track and he too thinks the step up in trip will benefit his mount.

“Not so much in the Guineas, but in the Craven he was [crying out for step up in trip],” said Crowley. 

“Coming here this morning, there’s a little bit of juice in the ground and he loved it. He’s a big horse and I think he’s probably best with a little bit of cut. 

“They always say Guineas form is the best form for a Derby and this horse finished close to the rest of them. I’m pretty confident he’ll stay. I think he’ll go close.”

Johnston: ‘Permian deserves his place’

There aren’t many Derby horses that begin their Classic campaign with a defeat in a Bath handicap in April, but Permian’s rapid rise to towards the top continues to surprise even those closest to him.

But while Mark Johnston openly admits he didn’t think he was a Derby horse six weeks ago, he’s convinced he could well be now and says he fully deserves his billing as a fancied Dante winner that sits in the top five in the betting for Epsom.

“We started out in a handicap this year and there’s not many Derby horses that do that, but it was a very good handicap and he’s improved since,” said Johnston.

“Newmarket was a step up and the Dante was another step up. We deserve to be there and go there with a live chance.”

With just 16 days between the Dante and Derby this year it has been mentioned that the small gap might be a concern for those that ran at York.

But Godolphin Racing Manager John Ferguson joked that such a timeframe was a holiday for a Mark Johnston-trained horse and the man himself quashed suggestions that it might not be an ideal gap between races.

“Absolutely not,” said Johnston. “We’re a firm believer in galloping our horses on the racetrack and he won’t gallop again until the Derby. Two and a half weeks is perfect. He’s a very straightforward horse.

“He is absolutely great. He’s taken all races in his stride and lost just 9kgs after the Dante. 

“At the beginning of the year we were not thinking about the Derby for this horse, but I look at the bare form and the horse has answered every question. He deserves to be there.”

Cooper delighted with the track

The jockeys and trainers were universal in their praise for the condition of the track at Epsom and the course seems to have taken the recent rain really well.

After a dry spring last week's rainfall was welcome and, though there's a risk of more showers early next week, clerk of the course Andrew Cooper is happy in the build up to the Oaks on June 2.

"We had 42 millimetres in the period (last week) and then it's been dry since Friday," he said.

"I''d say we're the slow side of good, or good to soft good in places maybe. I’ve not been in the best form of calling Flat ground this season. 

"April was difficult as it was dry, but the spring meeting was okay. We raced on the fast side of good ground, but getting that rain last week was important."