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PUNTERS keen to give Churchill their Epsom vote have been advised to stay patient by Aidan O’Brien, who revealed an Investec Derby decision will not be made for at least a week. Superstar juvenile Churchill proved a mile was well within his compass when winning the Qipco 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday, a performance O’Brien viewed as encouraging with regards tackling the world’s most celebrated Flat race. Coolmore’s Classic hero is Derby favourite, with his price ranging between 3-1 and 5-1, but connections also have the option of staying at a mile for the Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes.

O’Brien said: “When he gets back into full work we’ll have a chat with the lads and come up with a plan.

“He seems to be fine and travelled home well, as did the rest of our Newmarket horses. That was his first time up to a mile and he seemed to be fine at that.

“You wouldn’t say he won’t get further with the way he did it in the Guineas. When you go up to a mile and a half in the Derby you never know until you actually do it, so it’s very hard to say at this point, but he did it well on Saturday.”

Ballydoyle’s hunt for more Derby contenders stepped up a notch on home soil on Sunday as Douglas Macarthur accounted for stablemates Yucatan and Capri in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial and all three colts remain in the Derby picture.

O’Brien said: “We were very happy with Douglas Macarthur, Yucatan and Capri. “We felt all three of them ran solid races and they’re still very much in the Derby programme. We didn’t see anything that suggested anything different at the moment anyway.”

O’Brien added it would be a similar story for 1,000 Guineas winner Winter and runner-up Rhododendron for the Oaks, stating his intention to step the latter up in trip.

He said: “The next week or ten days will tell us a lot with Winter and Rhododendron as well.

“Rhododendron ran very well in defeat and has the option of the Irish 1,000 Guineas or the Oaks at Epsom.

“This year she probably wouldn’t be able to do the two because both races are very close together. “We always thought she would stay much further than a mile.

“She even stayed a mile well as a two-year-old, so there’s no reason why she wouldn’t step up in trip.” O’Brien reported Minding to be on track for the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh on May 28, while Seventh Heaven is likely to run in the Coronation Cup on June 2.

– Racingpost-com

GODOLPHIN chief executive John Ferguson could offer no explanation for Thunder Snow’s antics as the Dubai team’s Kentucky Derby ambitions were smashed almost as soon as the starting gate opened on Saturday in dramatic – and mysterious – circumstances.

In what Ferguson described as “one of the most extraordinary things any of us have ever seen”, the UAE Derby winner Thunder Snow put in a mini-bucking bronco routine in the first 100 yards before being pulled up by the hapless Christophe Soumillon. “The horse is fine and it was just one of these things – they’re not machines,” said Ferguson, speaking at Newmarket on Sunday.

Beautiful character “He trained so well out there and he’s a beautiful character at home.

“He jumped plunging out of the stalls and was pulled up after 50 yards – you can imagine a two-year-old doing that having his first start but a horse who’s won Group races at Meydan in Dubai and won in France and England?

“Everyone will have a theory but we’ll probably never know what happened.”

No injury came to light in the initial veterinary examinations, while suggestions of some kind of equipment problem were never confirmed.

“I don’t know what happened at the start,” commented Soumillon after the race, while chief Godolphin workrider Daragh O’Donohoe said he was “totally dumbstruck”.

Saeed Bin Suroor had said beforehand Thunder Snow was Godolphin’s best-ever chance of Kentucky success.

“We will closely monitor him over the next 24 hours to ensure that he is okay – our first priority is his welfare,” said the disappointed trainer.

“We gave it our best – the team were amazing but it just wasn’t to be.”

Unless some more tangible explanation emerges, it is perhaps worth recalling that Thunder Snow’s sire, the brilliant Australian performer Helmet, was not entirely straightforward.

He almost threw away the Group 1 Champagne Stakes at Randwick in April 2011 when he veered away from the whip

– racingpost.com

Nother Russia, a close-up third in last Saturday’s Gr1 Premier’s Champion Challenge, was one of the first casualties at first acceptances for the R4.25 Gr1 Vodacom Durban July on Monday.

It did not come as a surprise however, as master trainer Mike de Kock had already indicated over the weekend that she was unlikely to take her chances in the July.

12 horses were withdrawn at first acceptances but punters had some sifting to do after this last weekend’s racing with 30 of the original 58 horses in action.

In the card opener at Turffontein on Saturday, Sean Tarry’s runner Bold Viking ran a cracker over the Turffontein mile, going down a short head to the year older Cashin but giving the impression that he is looking for 10 furlongs.

He had fellow July entry Rocketball behind him who was staying on and will also prefer further. But this was a modest handicap.

Orchid Island, favourite for the Gr2 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks, and Smiling Blue Eyes did themselves no favours as Wind Chill ran them off their feet with Bi Pot, a close-up third to Orchid Island in the Gr1 SA Fillies Classic, doing the best of them but well beaten.

The trio look to have some work to do at this stage.

Tarry took out Furiosa on Monday after a disappointing showing in the Gr1 SA Derby, but stable companion Al Sahem stamped himself as a strong contender, winning readily under Anthony Delpech.

Delpech, one of the most successful jockeys in the history of the July, will have a wide choice of rides for the event and if he sticks with Al Sahem the inference will be obvious. The bookmakers obviously concur with Al Sahem’s price cut from 25-1 to second favourite in the ante-post market to 15-2.

Heavenly Blue and Pagoda did well enough but unless ther

e is more to come from the pair then Al Sahem should have their measure on their Derby showing.

The Gr1 Premier’s Champion Challenge saw seven potential July runners in action, but Celtic Captain and Nother Russia were first out on Monday.

Deo Juvente and Master Sabina both ran good races but Greyville remains a bogey for both while French Navy is showing signs of returning to his best form and is one to watch, having won the Gr1 Daily News 2000 at Greyville and Tarry has a happy knock of priming the right horse for the right race.

If you are willing to risk a few bob at this early stage then French Navy could be worth an each way wager at around 30-1.

With Heaps Of Fun an early casualty for the July, Girl On The Run and Trophy Wife were the only July contenders left in the Gr 3 Gerald Rosenberg Stakes. Girl On The Run finished a length-and-a-bit clear of Trophy wife but winner Polyphonic, although consistent, has recently twice finished behind Nother Russia and on that line of form, Girl On The Run and Trophy Wife are hopeful entries.

The Gr2 Daisy Guineas and Gr2 Independent On Saturday Drill Hall Stakes sent out mixed messages.

Piere Strydom was peerless in dictating the pace of the Guineas in spite of his mount taking him for a ride up front, but Secret Captain, ridden from on the pace for the first time, stayed on well enough to suggest that he will stay the eleven furlongs of the July but the Daily News 2000 should provide confirmation. The perennially-placed Zodiac Ruler was finishing strongly in third.

He finished second in the Gr1 Investec Cape Derby, so does get a trip, and could find himself amongst the fancied runners come July 1.

Horizon’s unplaced effort saw him on the drift. He was as short as 9-1 at one stage but there is plenty of 16-1 now available. Ridden from off the pace, he found little in the straight, but the jury is still out on this one.

The Drill Hall saw a blanket finish with Marinaresco poking his nose in front when it mattered most from Victorious Jay – not a July entry – and the always game Saratoga Dancer.

There was very little separating first from last and over a trip short of most of the July contenders best, the result could prove misleading

Captain America was running on well enough and behind the front rank, Black Arthur was finishing well enough to suggest some major improvement to come.

Ten Gun Salute, eased out of the race late, was diagnosed with a pulled back muscle, so he faces an uphill battle to be ready for the big one.

The 12 horses scratched so far are Star Express, Belle Rose, Furiosa, Heaps Of Fun, Samurai Blade, Celtic Captain, Dawn Calling, Juxtapose, Hamaan, Fort Ember, Nother Russia

By Andrew Harrison

Durban July favourite Marinaresco is on track for the Rising Sun Gold Challenge at Greyville on June 10 and the Bass stable has confirmed that Bernard Fayd’Herbe will ride him in all his Durban races this season.

Fayd’Herbe said yesterday that he had deliberately decided to scrap the previous waiting tactics when teaming up with the four-year-old for the first time in Sunday’s Drill Hall Stakes.

He explained: “I felt Marinaresco couldn’t keep running from so far back. He needs to learn to race handy – maybe not that handy but at least in a firing position.”

Victory was something of a bonus for trainer Candice Bass-Robinson who said: “It was a bit of a surprise over that trip but at least he didn’t have to come from so far back this time.

“He always runs well fresh but he had had a dirty trach wash, and there was some coughing in the yard, so he was a bit behind in his preparation.”

Stable companion Live Life, winner of the US$ 500 000 CTS Sprint on Met day, has been bought by Ridgemont and will be ridden by Greg Cheyne in the SA Fillies Sprint at Scottsville on May 27.

Captain America (5^th in the Independent On Saturday Drill Hall) and stable companion Sail South (6^th) both came out of the race well after finishing less than half a length off the winner and Brett Crawford said that the pair will renew rivalry with Marinaresco in the Gold Challenge.

Andrew Nel has 32 two-year-olds and Lanark started the ball rolling for them when making a winning debut in the opener at Kenilworth yesterday.

Nel said: “She was the first of a bunch of ten that are close to running. The others will race when they are ready.”

By Michael Clower