John and Thady Gosden upturn in form since jockey announcement

The Derby betting remains a fascinating market to monitor and those brave bookmakers to have added Midak ahead of the confirmation of his supplementary entry on Monday are dangling a 12/1 carrot which is probably no bigger than could be expected.

This horse has a relatively low-key pedigree, in Derby terms anyway, and only made his debut on March 12 when winning a fibresand maiden over a mile and three furlongs at Lyon La Soie on the banks of the Canal de Jonage.

He’s backed up the good impression made there with wins at Chantilly and in Saint-Cloud’s Prix Greffulhe, when dipping his toe in Group-race waters for the first time.

Kingsley Klarion columnist James Willoughby recently wrote that “a horse’s career is like a fuzzy image which gets clearer as more evidence accumulates” and the picture is obviously still particularly cloudy with this colt.

Trainer Francis Graffard apparently only really came up with the Epsom plan due to himself – and the Aga Khan Studs – already having runners engaged for the Prix du Jockey Club so while Midak may well turn out to be good enough in the end, I think I’d want a little more reward (than 12/1) if that is proved to be the case.

It's hard to be dogmatic given the uncertainty surrounding The Lion In Winter, but at similar odds to Midak, surely it’s the John and Thady Gosden-trained Damysus who is currently a bit bigger than he should be based on a whole host of factors - primarily form, potential and pedigree.

Wathnan clearly bought him to win Classics, shelling out 460,00 guineas as a yearling, and while it could be argued that his chances are still fairly slim now he’s been beaten in two recognised trials, the son of Frankel does appear to be crying out for another couple of furlongs judging by his latest staying-on second behind Pride Of Arras in the Dante.

He’s definitely where I’d be leaning at this stage, especially with some rain in the forecast over the coming week. He’ll also presumably have a new jockey, with Wathnan's main man James Doyle almost certain to be back on board having ridden the horse on his Southwell debut in December.

That’s an interesting strand after Damysus raced aggressively before getting quite a wide trip under Kieran Shoemark at York.

Relieving a jockey of their duties as principal rider at a yard as big as Clarehaven was always going to be a significant move and, rather like when a Chairperson dispatches with a football manager, those pulling the strings will have wanted - and expected - to witness some sort of tangible uptick in fortunes, no matter how short-term that may seem.

The Gosdens' "best available" announcement - derided by some at the time - has seen Shoemark booked just once in the past fortnight, the former number one finishing third on 14/1 shot Tycoon in the Cocked Hat at Goodwood. Elsewhere, the ball has been bouncing their way, with Irish Guineas winner Field Of Gold the obvious standout after Colin Keane became the chief beneficiary of the new policy.

Ryan Moore, William Buick, Oisin Murphy and Christophe Soumillon have also picked up rides that would not have appeared to be theirs at the start of the year and, in a results business such as this, you can’t really argue with 11 winners at a 28% strike-rate over the past two weeks alone.

Plenty of others have run well in defeat too, including Ombudsman in the Brigadier Gerard, Detain in Sunday’s French Derby and Sardinian Warrior, whose Prix d’Ispahan raid was only denied after Sosie was supplemented into the race at relatively late notice.

It’s presumably onto the Queen Anne for him and the likes of Field Of Gold, Sweet William, Lead Artist and Ombudsman will help to form a top-notch bunch heading to Royal Ascot.

One Gosden horse you will not want to miss wherever he shows up next is Nahraan, whose Wolverhampton debut win over stablemate (and 6/4 favourite) Cajole on Tuesday night looked something out of the ordinary. Don’t be surprised to see him thrown in deep during the summer months - I'm looking forward to seeing the evidence accumulate as his full merit becomes a little clearer.

WATCH: Nahraan sprouts wings late on to beat Cajole

More from Sporting Life

• Free bets
• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.