Timeform & Sporting Life team pick Epsom favourite

The Timeform and Sporting Life team pick out their favourite Betfred Derby memory ahead of next weekend’s Epsom Classic.

1989 Nashwan (David Ord)

The spring and early summer of 1989 belonged to Nashwan.

From the legendary early-morning spring gallop at West Ilsley which catapulted him from relative obscurity to Guineas favouritism through to a battling win in the King George at Ascot, he ruled supreme,

He was campaigned in a way what would make many a modern jumps trainer shudder, Guineas, Derby, Eclipse and Ascot. He came, he saw, he conquered.

The son of Blushing Groom was never more impressive than when winning at Epsom. Cacoethes was the big danger, trained by Guy Harwood and an impressive winner of the trial at Lingfield.

He set out to expose any weakness in the favourite’s stamina, committing for home soon after turning in. Fleetingly Willie Carson looked in trouble on Nashwan but there was a split-second moment when Channel 4 switched to a side-on view and you saw his raking stride lengthen further. He was in front soon after and any worries over the petrol tank emptying were dispelled as he thundered clear inside the final two furlongs.

It was one of those Derbys when the result was known a long way out for all 250/1 outsider Terimon closed to within five lengths at the line. He was the biggest-priced horse to hit the frame in the Classic but went on to become a proven Group One performer in his own right.

Nashwan burned bright for two more summer afternoons but on Derby day he was special.

2002 High Chaparral (David Johnson)

The build up to the 2002 Derby could have been for a Las Vegas prize fight. Two heavyweight stablemates clashing with contrasting styles. In one corner was the flashy Hawk Wing, the moral winner of the 2000 Guineas who would dance his way into a big points lead, but might run out of stamina in the championship rounds up against High Chaparral, the relentless galloper that would never give in, always carrying that puncher’s chance should his rival show any semblance of weakness.

Having disputed favouritism in the early markets, the support came for Hawk Wing late on who was reunited with stable jockey Michael Kinane, with Johnny Murtagh on High Chaparral who already had a verdict over that rival in the 2000 Guineas having ridden Rock of Gibraltar to success at Newmarket.

A strong gallop had the field well strung out and things were very much on script coming to Tattenham Corner, High Chaparral driven down the hill, ensuring the race would be run to suit his strengths and he was sent into the lead over 2f out, all the while being followed through by Hawk Wing, with Kinane sat much quieter.

Push would come to shove over 1f out on Hawk Wing with the distress signals soon apparent, his response nothing like so generous as what High Chaparral found for Johnny Murtagh and he maintained a 2 length advantage to give his rider a second Derby having also been successful on Sinndar two years earlier, holding off Kinane who had triumphed on Galileo twelve months earlier.

Hawk Wing would never be asked to go a mile and a half again, dropping back to a mile and a quarter to win the Eclipse and most famously put up an outstanding performance in the following year’s Lockinge, with his Timeform rating of 136 remaining the highest ever awarded to a runner trained by Aidan O’Brien. High Chaparral would go on to win an Irish Derby, two Breeder’s Cup Turfs and an Irish Champion Stakes. Two top-class horses producing a most memorable race over twenty years on.

2007 Authorized (Ben Linfoot)

Authorized’s Derby is mainly remembered for him being Frankie Dettori’s first winner in the contest at the 15th attempt, and if the Italian jockey dreamt about how the big race would unfold for him the night before then it played out in reality on June 2, 2007.

Peter Chapple-Hyam’s horse was a well-fancied 5/4 favourite after Racing Post Trophy success at two and a barnstorming Dante reappearance win at York, while his passage through the field at Epsom couldn’t have gone any more smoothly.

As Dettori glided around Tattenham Corner on the bridle he picked off rival by rival, the son of Montjeu’s tongue flapping about as he cruised into contention. Into fifth by the two-furlong pole, that was the point where Dettori said ‘go!’ and go he did, lengthening clear for a supreme five-length verdict over Eagle Mountain.

The easiness of it all has always stuck in my mind. God knows how it didn’t make my top 40 list as it’s always been a personal favourite – I guess it’s just that kind of race!

2009 Sea The Stars (Tony McFadden)

It had been 20 years since a horse had completed the 2000 Guineas and Derby double, but hopes were high in 2009 that Sea The Stars had the rare blend of speed, stamina and talent to complete the feat.

As would prove to be the case throughout his career, Sea The Stars lived up to the expectations. A strong market move for Aidan O’Brien’s leading contender Fame And Glory, who had taken the Galileo and High Chaparral route to Epsom by winning the Ballysax and Derrinstown trials, meant that Sea The Stars wasn’t sent off favourite, but he had far too much pace for his main rival who went on to establish himself as a top-notch stayer.

A cosy length-and-three-quarter success may not have earned Sea The Stars an especially high rating at Epsom, but the style of success – and the rare achievement – left little doubt he was a horse of rare ability and he ultimately finished his career with an outstanding Timeform rating of 140, reaching a level that only a dozen or so horses have managed in the organisation’s experience.

2011 Pour Moi (Lewis Tomlinson)

You can’t even claim that the 2011 Derby is the most iconic classic ran that year – a certain Frankel sewing that up by the bushes – nor can you describe it is a vintage renewal, but it did provide my favourite moment in my time watching the sport.

Mickael Barzalona behaved absolutely ludicrously. A nineteen-year-old having the biggest ride of his career, representing Andre Fabre and Coolmore aboard second-favourite Pour Moi. Of course, if you’re reading this, you’ll know Barzalona won the race. And you’ll know how he did it; Pour Moi last of all rounding Tattenham Corner, still with only the no-hopers behind 3f out. He had five ahead of him with a furlong to run, and was still a half-length behind subsequent Irish Derby winner Treasure Beach when Barzalona, stood up in the saddle, held his whip in the air, and as Simon Holt’s brilliant commentary put it, celebrated “as if he’s won the Derby.”

Pour Moi wasn’t in front when his rider began to celebrate and Barzalona could not have known that he’d won the Derby, not for certain, and that’s the thing I love most.

People don’t show off too regularly in racing, the margin between hero and villain for jockey often so fine, but so much of what makes sport amazing is how it can lead to behaviour that is illogical, reckless, but done out of instinct, out of passion. On the biggest stage of them all, Barzalona acted through pure adrenaline and ran the risk of producing the infamous moment in Epsom history. Split seconds between a legacy as either Derby-winning jockey, or a fool unnecessarily that threw a Classic. But his timing was right and instead of infamous, he produced something iconic.

2011 Pour Moi (Matt Brocklebank)

You don’t need me to tell you that Pour Moi’s Derby wasn’t a vintage renewal in terms of quality. Timeform’s master ratings show the French-trained colt to be around a stone below a horse like Sea The Stars, who had cruised to victory two years earlier, but not many races leave you quite as open-mouthed as the 2011 Derby.

Pour Moi was dead last and seemingly already struggling with the contours on the initial climb to the right-hand bend; by the time they got to Tattenham Corner, he still had the same dozen horses in front of him and jockey Mickael Barzalona – only 19 at the time – got to work on one of the most audacious home-straight runs in the race’s history.

Switched wide, Pour Moi found another gear and picked a few rivals off but he was hanging badly on the camber, lugging in approaching the furlong pole when looking booked for fifth or sixth at best. But Pour Moi wasn’t done with and suddenly burst past a handful of tiring rivals to lead narrowly in the shadow of the post, his rider standing bolt upright to celebrate a stride and a half from the line. Nobody really knew if he’d definitely got up, and that surely includes Barzalona himself.

He was slapped on the wrists by the stewards for his premature salute and you wouldn’t have wanted to be in his shoes if the photo had returned a different result, but for sheer drama and the unhinged confidence of youth in the saddle, that Derby will always stay with me – it was just one of those races that left you smiling and a little breathless.

What was your favourite Derby memory? Let us know my emailing racingfeedback@sportinglife.com

Irvine Henderson:

Some good horses there – that was risky by M Barzalona on Pour Moi at the end of the race.

There’s a few in my memories; the 3 from Dick Hern – Troy, Henbit and Nashwan – all great horses.

Then two from Henry Cecil – Slip Anchor with Steve Cauthen aboard, and Commander in Chief.

And finally, how can you leave out Shergar and Walter Swinburn??? – outstanding and such a sad story behind it all.

Anwer Soorty:

DESERT CROWN

This showed the brilliance of the horse and the trainer. Michael Stoute prepared him to perfection. First run as a 2yo at Nottingham, the Dante where he was oozing class then the Derby. At Epsom he had the race won in the parade ring. All that noise from the band. DC was coolness personified! Then Kingscote at the turn waited and pressed the button and the response was electric.

Timeform & Sporting Life team pick Epsom favourite

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