Gleneagles and Found absence dent O’Brien Investec Derby bid
DUAL 2000 Guineas winner Gleneagles and stablemate Found will both miss this week’s Investec Derby meeting at Epsom and instead be aimed at Royal Ascot later this month.
It means that trainer Aidan O’Brien, who has won the Derby for three successive years, will have a trio of runners the Saturday showpiece: Hans Holbein, Giovanni Canaletto and Kilimanjaro.
Golden Horn, to be ridden by Frankie Dettori, is the favourite of a maximum field of 15 horses, having been supplemented at a cost of £75,000, along with fellow late entrant Success Days.
Gleneagles is instead likely to run the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot on 16 June. Found, who was under consideration for Friday’s Investec Oaks as well as the Derby, is expected to contest the Coronation Stakes, also at Royal Ascot, on 19 June.
Cheshire Oaks winner Diamondsandrubies heads O’Brien’s three confirmed entries to the Oaks. Musidora Stakes runner-up Together Forever and Qualify are the other two from the Ballydoyle stable, while they could yet be joined by Wedding Vow.