Trainer Charlie Appleby is confident that the prospect of slower ground at Epsom June 1 will only enhance the chances of his Epsom Derby (G1) contender Ancient Wisdom , who May 29 was just half a point off favoritism for the world-famous classic.
Appleby’s “live contender” was down to 7-2 with Unibet behind Ballydoyle stablemates City of Troy and Los Angeles at 3-1 to build on a productive juvenile campaign that began with wins at Haydock and Newmarket and a third behind Irish Two Thousand Guineas (G1) winner Rosallion at Ascot in July.
After a break, Ancient Wisdom returned in the Autumn Stakes (G3) on soft ground at Newmarket in October, winning by 3 3/4 lengths, before following up on heavy ground in the Futurity Trophy Stakes (G1) at Doncaster.
The Godolphin colorbearer was then sent off the 7-4 favorite for his seasonal reappearance in the Dante Stakes (G2) at York but was no match for the William Haggas-trained Economics , who has not been supplemented for the Derby.
“Ancient Wisdom is a group 1 winner having won the Futurity at Doncaster in very soft conditions,” said Appleby, who is bidding for his third Derby after scoring with Masar (2018) and Adayar (2021). “I was happy with his reappearance in the Dante. There was a good winner there but I felt there was going to be plenty of improvement from Ancient Wisdom and he has shown all the right signs since.
“We know he relishes the slower ground and with the forecast being the way it is, we’ll hopefully encounter that on Saturday, which should enhance his chances. (Jockey) William (Buick) sat on him on Wednesday and the whole team are delighted with how he’s progressed since his first 3-year-old start. It’s an honor to be involved in a race like the Derby and we believe we’re going there with a live contender.”
With the ground at Epsom described as soft, good to soft in places Wednesday, there has been support for Ancient Wisdom, who was available at 7-1 earlier this week. The Aidan O’Brien-trained City of Troy has drifted in the betting and is now the 3-1 joint favorite with several firms alongside stablemate Los Angeles.
“I moved the description back from soft to soft, good to soft in places on Wednesday morning,” said Epsom’s clerk of the course Andrew Cooper. “As expected, we’ve been dry all day so far and it’s expected to stay dry for the remainder of today. There’s been an improving picture in the last 24 hours but we’ll see what tomorrow brings.
“It still looks as though there’s a greater risk of showers on Thursday from reasonably early in the morning. Most forecasters are pitching the volume for the day at somewhere around 5 millimeters—they think we’ll be doing very well to miss the rain completely.
“If we saw 5 millimeters, the ground will go backward in the short term but it’s not a dramatic volume, and I still think we’d be more in the good-to-soft territory on Friday.
“We’re going to have to see something at the upper-end tomorrow to stay meaningfully soft. Looking at the outlook, I think it will be a touch better on Saturday. It will be nice racing ground but it might be on the slower side to some degree.”
