1964 CLASSIC HORSES—No. 3 Few British Hopes For £70,000 Epsom Derby

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30368, 18 February 1964, Page 4

1964 CLASSIC HORSES—No. 3 Few British Hopes For £70,000 Epsom Derby

[By NIGEL GEE] LONDON. The Epsom Derby has become an extremely desirable property. An extra £40,000 will go into the race this year, and the winner on June 3 will take home around £70,000, twice what Relko received in 1963. It is an unfortunate time to invite still stronger opposition from Ireland and France, which have been successful in the last two years, for the home team is anything but strong.

At present there are perhaps four English colts which might be exceptional, Casabianca. Con Brio, Endless Honey and Atbara. The emphasis is on the possibility rather than the probability. Casabianca won two of his three races in 1963, though he was still backward. His more important success was in the Royal Lodge Stakes over a mile, often a key race in deciding the longer classics. Having won at a mile as a two-year-old, Casablanca is likely, in theory, to find the stamina for another half-mile in the Derby. But it is not certain. May Improve He is by a Derby winner, Never Say Die, but his dam is the Abernant mare Abelia, whose grey colour he has inherited. She was not only a sprinter, but was also bred to be a sprinter, which casts some doubt cm his potential stamina. Casablanca, which received 8-12 in the Free Handicap,

can almost certainly improve. I have only two doubts—about his stamina and the fact that he had a very hard race for the Royal Lodge. Con Brio also had three races last year. He won the second, over a mile at Ripon, and then started a strong favourite for the last big race of the season, the £23,000 Timeform Gold Cup He could hardly have had less luck if he had run in the Grand National. He was slow to start, was almost brought down on the last bend and, finally, was squeezed out in the straight. There was no fairy-tale finish. He was seventh.

There is admittedly nothing great in this record, but I have a high regard for this handsome horse. Larkspur was also unlucky in the 1961 Timeform. The next year he won the Derby. Con Brio is by the Italian horse Ribot, sire of one of the best horses of 1963, Ragusa, and his dam is by Petition. There is little doubt that he will stay the Derby distance. In the Free Handicap he was given 8-9. Endless Honey is a problem colt His first season falls into two acts, a brilliant opening and a dismal

finale. His last race was ignored in the Free Handicap and he received 8-10, a rating typical of a potential Derby winner.

He began by winning the July Stakes at Newmarket, beating four horses Which all won later, including Casabianca. Two months later he was a moderate fourth in the Champagne, even though the winner, Talahasse, was patently below his best form. Provisionally, Endless Honey must have the benefit of the doubt. He is an extremely well-bred colt by Never Say Die out of an Hyperion mare which has been remarkably successful. —(Central Press Features. All rights reserved)BANKS PENINSULA RACING CLUB ENTRIES FOR ALL EVENTS at the Summer Meeting to be held at Motukarara on Saturday, March 7, 1964, CLOSE at 4 P.M. TOMORROW with the Secretary. R. W. Nurse, e/o S. P. Godfrey and Co., 70 Gloucester street, Christchurch. Telephone 60-494. Box 323. —Advt. A.