Jane Mangan’s Derby Festival William Hill Blog: Forget City Of Troy, it’s all about the City of Angels

By News Team
30th May 2024

William Hill ambassador Jane Mangan previews Friday and Saturday of the Derby Festival at Epsom, taking on the Ballydoyle main gun in Saturday’s Classic.

Friday, Epsom

Six of the last nine editions of the Oaks (4.30pm) have gone to Ballydoyle and Aidan O’Brien, and this year, somewhat unusually, he is still searching for his first European Classic of the season. He presents a formidable challenge with Rubies Are Red and favourite Ylang Ylang, but I’m opting to play this race from an each-way perspective. With 12 fillies declared, Ralph Beckett accounts for a third of the field with four runners. I like his filly Treasure, who I think will benefit from the rain on Thursday, likely resulting in good to soft or soft ground. She looked poised to win at Lingfield on her seasonal debut, only to be run down late. If she improves from that outing, she offers good value and will be in the frame for the King and Queen.

The opening race of the Derby Festival, the Woodcote Stakes (2.00pm), is always an interesting affair for two-year-olds. The Hannon yard have a very good record in this race, and I think they have an interesting filly for this year’s edition in New Charter. She made steady headway on her debut at Newmarket, finishing behind Mountain Breeze. She showed a bit of greenness and was a little keen that day, but she’s entitled to improve from that experience. She’s by New Bay out of a Frankel mare, so she’s bred to handle an ease in the ground and stay very well. It was a very good first performance and there’s every reason to believe she could be quite smart, and doesn’t have to carry a penalty here either.

It’s been ten years since Cirrus Des Aigles secured a one-two for France in the Coronation Cup for Christophe Soumillon and Corine Barande-Barbe. I believe this edition of the race (3.10pm) could once again favour an export runner, thanks to Feed The Flame for Pascal Bary and Cristian Demuro. Last year’s Grand Prix de Paris winner has had an excellent prep for this event, only beaten by less than a length in the Group 1 Prix Ganay last time out. This isn’t the deepest edition of the race, and while last year’s winner Emily Upjohn will be extremely tough to beat, former Irish Champion Stakes winner Luxembourg deserves the utmost respect. However, I think Feed The Flame is coming into his own as a four-year-old. He’s back over 12 furlongs, which could be his optimal trip, and was far from disgraced behind Ace Impact in last year’s Arc.

The Surrey Stakes (5.10pm) over seven furlongs has attracted seven declarations. Out of those, I like Balmacara for Eve Johnson Houghton, who rarely leaves Epsom without a winner. He was third to the reopposing Zoum Zoum on debut, but had an interesting horse behind him that day in Economics, who came fourth in that Novice at Newmarket before winning the Dante impressively. Since then, Balmacara has notched up a pair of wins on soft ground in both starts at Doncaster. I think his most recent performance in April, where he beat Surrey Shadow and Stanage, showed great improvement. He’s heading in the right direction and receives three pounds from Zoum Zoum this time, so he’s my selection.

Saturday, Epsom

2024, the year that seemingly everyone thinks they have a chance in the Derby (4.30pm)! A big field of 16 are declared, a reflection of the fact that we don’t have a standout favourite in the race. But are we guilty of looking beyond the obvious? Aidan O’Brien, seeking his tenth win in the race, saddles three horses, two of which are Group 1 winning juveniles. Los Angeles is unbeaten, by a Derby winner, from the family of Sea The Stars and Galileo – not many have more ingredients to win the race than this lad. He’s handled an ease in the ground as a juvenile and is a big horse who many of the paddock experts believed would’ve improved for the run when winning at Leopardstown. His work, as reported online in videos, has been good and he ticks a lot of boxes. City Of Troy might be the main talking point in the race, but Los Angeles might be the play.

In the opening Handicap (1:25pm) on Saturday, my attention is drawn to the promising and unexposed Bubbles Wonky. With just three runs under his belt, including one this season, the step up to ten furlongs could unlock further potential, especially considering the fact he is by Lope De Vega. With William Buick aboard for the first time under the guidance of Tim Easterby, and off a mark of 87, Bubbles Wonky poses a significant threat, as the handicapper has a limited assessment of his true ability.

The Princess Elizabeth Stakes (2.00pm) over a mile, is a real opportunity for John and Thady Gosden’s Running Lion to get back to winning ways. It seems like an awful long time ago when she went to the start of the Oaks, only to be withdrawn in the stalls for playing up. Since then, she hasn’t lived up to expectation, but I thought her run last time at Newmarket behind Stay Alert was an encouraging season debut in the Dahlia. Dropping down to a mile is exactly what she wants as she’s a fast filly and the Gosden horses have been improving from their first start this year. With all those factors in mind I think Running Lion will be very hard to beat.

Up next is the Group 3 Diomed Stakes (2.35pm), previously claimed by Regal Reality in a thrilling battle against Highland Avenue last year. Despite being nine years-old, Regal Reality’s recent performance at Chester, where he finished strongly behind Passenger despite a sluggish start, suggests he’s far from slowing down. With Ryan Moore back in the saddle and returning to the scene of his victory last year, Regal Reality could be poised to secure his seventh career win for Sir Michael Stoute.