Irish Trainers Strong Team For English Derby

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30678, 18 February 1965, Page 4

Irish Trainers Strong Team For English Derby

(By

NIGEL GEE

The search for the 1965 Derby winner begins logically in Paddy Prendergast’s stable. It may well end there, too. For it is a stable of almost frightening horsepower.

This great Irish trainer has won all five of his native Irish classics and four of the five run in England. The one hole in his record is the Epsom Derby. Sooner or later he will complete the set, and as his current team for the Derby is the strongest he has ever had, it will probably be sooner rather than later.

The Prendergast two-year-olds were comparatively quiet in 1964 until the autumn, when he launched a blitz on three important races with two horses, Hardicanute and Prominer. Hardicanute ran for the first time in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster in September. He won it narrowly. Prominer had already won the important National Stakes in Ireland when he came to Ascot for the mile Royal Lodge Stakes later in the month. He too won narrowly and a little luckily. Stable Choice Hardicanute was the stable choice for the Timeform Gold Cup, worth almost £25,000, over a mile at Doncaster in October. On the final turn there was only one behind him, but he got up when all had seemed lost, to win by a neck.

Between them Hardicanute and Prominer had by then demolished the majority of the English colts which seemed likely to win the Derby.

Prominer is not in the English classics and as they are both owned by one man, Mr J. R. Mullion, the division of labour seems plain—Hardicanute for Epsom, Prominer for the Irish Derby. They were rated second and fourth in the Free Handicap, Hardnicanute 31b above Prominer.

Hardicanute is a better colt than the margins of his two victories suggest. In each he came from a seemingly

hopeless position to snatch victory on the post. He is now favourite for the Derby, and at this stage no colt has a better record in the context of that classic. I make only one reservation, In its short history the Timeform result has sometimes proved deceptive, possibly because the race takes a lot out of those involved in a close finish for it. Stayed Distance Hardicanute is by the Derby winner, Hard Ridden, a horse many of us thought, because of his pedigree, would not stay the distance. But he did stay, and there is no reason now to transfer the doubt to his progeny. When Prominer won the

National Stakes, two stablemates, Carlemont and Meadow Court, which were also running for the first time, were unplaced. Later they won different races on the same afternoon at Ascot. It is hard to assess them—and the Free handicapper did not try—but Carlemont seems the better.

He has a very good pedigree, by the French Derby winner Charlottesville out of a mare, Torbella, which won the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket as a two-year-old. He had a . considerable advantage at Ascot because most of his rivals had not run before, but he treated this good-looking field with Contempt. Only Race Quintillian won his only race, in Ireland, narrowly. As the rest of the field were all previously unraced. that form has no discernible meaning. But he is interesting because he cost ll.OOOgns, a price determined largely by his pedigree. He is by Sieambre and is a brother of Ambergris, second in two English classics and winner of the Irish Oaks.

Prendergast has 11 more colts in the Derby. Two Robin Hood and Weather Mark, have won, but the rest mt run only ance ®t twice There may be an ace among them, but at the moment Hardicanute, Carlemont, Meadow Court and QumtillMo look the too four. p Ajnd that, from the English P°» n t of new, is quite enough. (All Rights Reserved)

This Is the first of a series of six articles by the English writer, Nigel Gee, on entrants for the forthcoming English Classic races. The articles will appear weekly.