Nations Pride was supplemented at a cost of £75,000 on Monday
Timeform profile Nations Pride ahead of Saturday's Cazoo Derby at Epsom
By Adam Houghton
16:05 · SAT June 04, 2022
Each day in the run-up to the Cazoo Derby, a member of the Timeform team analyses the claims of a leading player. Adam Houghton puts Nations Pride under the microscope.
Sheikh Mohammed is yet to see much of a return on the 3.4 million guineas he spent on the five-year-old mare Satwa Queen at the 2007 Tattersalls December Sales.
At the time that was a European record for a filly or mare in training, a huge investment which will suddenly look a very shrewd bit of business should Nations Pride – a grandson of Satwa Queen – carry the Godolphin blue to victory in Saturday’s Cazoo Derby at Epsom.
Nations Pride has certainly made a very promising start to his career, winning his last four starts and doing enough to convince his connections to supplement him at a cost of £75,000 on Monday. He now joins Nahanni and Walk of Stars in a three-pronged attack from Moulton Paddocks, home to two of the last four Derby winners in the shape of Masar (2018) and Adayar (2021).
After shaping very well on his debut in a seven-furlong maiden at Yarmouth in September, running on late to grab second, Nations Pride then ran out an impressive winner of a one-mile novice event at Lingfield three weeks later, overcoming the steady gallop as he forged clear late on to land the spoils by nearly five lengths.
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The pace was again modest when Nations Pride was stepped up to a mile and a quarter for his final two-year-old start in a minor event at Chelmsford in November. Facing just three rivals, Nations Pride barely needed to improve to justify very short odds in good style, leading two furlongs out and keeping on well for a ready three-length success.
While Nations Pride’s bare form at that point was no better than fairly useful, he gave the strong impression that he would prove quite a bit better than that given the right sort of opportunities at three – and so it has proved already.
A trip to Dubai during the winter yielded another convincing victory in a minor event over a mile and a quarter at Meydan in February, once again proving very strong at the finish as he drew clear to win by over three lengths. Incidentally, it was not Nations Pride but stablemate New Kingdom who was sent off the odds-on favourite for that race.
The progress made by Nations Pride certainly seems to have taken Charlie Appleby by surprise, but the trainer can be in no doubt now that he has a smart colt on his hands, such was the impression Nations Pride created when completing a four-timer in the Listed Newmarket Stakes over a mile and a quarter last time.
After tracking the pace in the early stages, Nations Pride was produced to lead around three furlongs out and from there he proceeded to leave his three rivals trailing in his wake, ultimately winning by seven lengths in the style of a horse destined for bigger and better things.
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That performance earned Nations Pride a Timeform rating of 117p and he is ranked third behind only Desert Crown (121p) and Stone Age (118p) among the 18 entries for this year’s Derby. When you consider that stablemates Nahanni and Walk of Stars are both rated 108p, then it must have been an easy decision to supplement Nations Pride.
A well-made colt, Nations Pride wouldn’t be sure to stay a mile and a half judged solely on the distaff side of his pedigree. His dam, Important Time, the pick of Satwa Queen’s offspring, ran her best race when winning a nine-furlong Listed contest in Germany. She has produced one other winner so far, Making History (by Dubawi), who won a seven-furlong nursery at Leicester for Saeed bin Suroor.
However, Nations Pride left the firm impression when powering through the line at Newmarket that he will relish stepping up further in trip, seemingly taking more after his sire Teofilo, who is a strong influence for stamina.
Teofilo was notably responsible for last year’s Gold Cup winner Subjectivist and for Godolphin’s 2018 Melbourne Cup winner Cross Counter. Teofilo won another Melbourne Cup in 2020 with Twilight Payment, that one out of an Oasis Dream mare like Nations Pride.
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PRO:
Nations Pride has improved with virtually every start, culminating with a dominant seven-length success in the Listed Newmarket Stakes. The most striking aspect of that performance was how strong he was at the finish and the step up to a mile and a half at Epsom is likely to unlock more improvement. His connections have a good recent record in the Derby and William Buick is set to choose him over stablemates Nahanni and Walk of Stars.
CON:
Nations Pride is yet to race above Listed level and his four wins have all been achieved against vastly inferior rivals. The useful Hoo Ya Mal chased him home at Newmarket last time, but no other horse he has come up against has achieved a Timeform rating above 100. It goes without saying that this will be his toughest test yet against the likes of Desert Crown, who has already achieved a higher rating after three fewer starts.
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