Talking Horses: Marquand 'jocked off' as Dettori lands plum Derby ride

Frankie Dettori has been booked to ride English King for Ed Walker in the Derby on 4 July, removing any lingering doubt that the colt will set off as favourite for the Classic at Epsom on Saturday week.

English King returned to action with an impressive two-and-three-quarter length win in a fast time in the Lingfield Derby Trial on 5 June, and the form was backed up when second-placed Berkshire Rocco filled the same spot in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot.

The news that Dettori would take the ride on English King prompted a cut in his odds from a top price of 4-1 on Monday morning to a general 3-1. It was bitterly disappointing for Tom Marquand, however, as the young rider was aboard English King for his Lingfield win and had been hoping to take his first Derby ride aboard the colt.

English King races in the black and yellow colours of leading owner-breeder Bjorn Nielsen, whose outstanding stayer Stradivarius took the Gold Cup at Ascot last week with Dettori, his regular partner, in the saddle. If John Gosden, Stradivarius’s trainer, had a colt in the Derby, the Italian would be required to take the ride but there is little sign of a runner from the yard at Epsom, which has led to Marquand being “jocked off” the favourite.

“Frankie Dettori is going to take over from Tom,” Walker said on Monday, “which is obviously a big blow for Tom. I did say to him after Lingfield, ‘your only danger is Frankie and you just need to hope that John has got a runner in the Derby’, and as it turns out, he hasn’t.

“Bjorn and I obviously mulled over it a lot. Bjorn has got the connection with Frankie through Stradivarius, they are good friends. Like I said to Tom when I told him, in five or 10 years’ time I will be mobbed for taking you off the Derby favourite when you have been [a] multiple champion jockey. It is just bad luck for Tom because he was only ever going to get jocked off for one man, and he happens to be free.”

Marquand said on Monday evening that he respected the decision. “It was handled very well by Ed and Bjorn,” he said on Sky Sports Racing. ‘It was something they spoke to me about before it all came out. The Derby is the Derby, it’s something that someone like Bjorn has spent 40 years dreaming of while investing in horse racing, and while obviously I want to be a Derby-winning jockey, everyone does, I’ve just got to respect the decision they’ve made now and hopefully in the future, it can be something that can come along again.”

Beverley 12.45 Bomb Proof 1.15 Bal Mal 1.45 Lucy Rules 2.15 Falconidae 2.45 Old Harbour (nb) 3.15 Golden Pass 3.45 Northern Lyte 4.15 Our Charlie Brown 4.45 Quoteline Direct

Chepstow 4.35 Bluebell Time 5.10 Chica Bella 5.40 Grey Galleon 6.10 Marshal Dan 6.40 Champagne Bob 7.10 Al Qaasim 7.40 Limelighter 8.10 Damage Control 

Kempton Park 4.55 Perfect Times 5.25 Running Back 5.55 Big Lachie (nap) 6.25 Combine 6.55 Aureum 7.25 Roller 7.55 Francisco Bay 8.25 Dyagilev 8.55 Anno Lucis 

While Kameko, the 2,000 Guineas winner, will have plenty of supporters at around 5-1, English King now looks sure to start favourite at 5-2 or shorter when the Derby is run in July for the first time since 1917. Military March, who finished fourth behind Kameko at Newmarket earlier this month, is 11-2, followed by two possible runners from the Aidan O’Brien stable in Mogul and Russian Emperor, both 12-1.

Since the initial yearling entries have been cancelled, however, it remains to be seen how many runners will arrive from Ballydoyle. O’Brien’s yard will house a long list of colts who are bred for the job but have yet to see a racecourse this season due to the suspension of racing from mid-March to June. The likely strength and depth of O’Brien’s challenge will not become apparent until Monday, when the five-day entries are published.

source: theguardian.com