Storming Home to land Derby trial

13 April 2012

BBC cameras will tomorrow be trained on Epsom for the first time in 22 years as a dry run for its coverage of this June's Vodafone Derby and Oaks.

Racing's media-rights talks have dragged on with GG-Media's seductive offer to 26 of Britain's 59 racecourses, rivalling the comprehensive £400 million deal tabled by the Go Racing consortium of Channel 4, Sky and Arena Online.

But it was confirmed at the start of this month that the June classics would transfer from Channel 4 to the BBC under a one-year agreement and this spring Epsom meeting has followed suit. It is confidently hoped that, when the BBC broadcasts its first Derby since 1979, viewing figures will exceed the 2.5 million who watched Channel 4's coverage last year.

The focus of tomorrow's card is the Stanley Racing Blue Riband Trial Stakes. Its impact on the Epsom classic since its revival in 1998 has been respectable enough, with that year's winner, The Glow-Worm, now a hurdler in Ireland, finishing sixth in the Derby and the 1999 victor, Daliapour, going on to finish a brave second to Oath in the main event.

But last year's contest was less satisfactory, the winner Eternal Spring racing only once more when a distant fifth in Lingfield's Derby Trial the following month. In 2001, only one of the five runners lining up for the Trial holds a Derby engagement - the Barry Hills-trained Storming Home.

His form stacks up in pretty respectable fashion. His last effort was a respectable ninth to King Charlemagne in Newmarket's Tattersall Stakes but prior to that he was unlucky to lose out to King's Ironbridge in Sandown's Solario Stakes. The winner had poached a useful lead by the time Storming Home had been extracted from his traffic problems.

If Storming Home can reproduce his Sandown form and handle both this soft ground and idiosyncratic track then he must have a good chance of maintaining this Trial's salvaged reputation. His trainer Barry Hills has made one of the better starts to a difficult early season, plagued by the wet weather.

Sean Woods has also made a good start to 2001 and Black Knight was a good third to shock Easter Stakes winner, Herodotus, at Kempton earlier this month, sticking on well when collared for the lead over one furlong out. He looks capable of handling this extra two furlongs.

In the Stanley Racing Great Metropolitan Stakes, Nowell House can follow up on his victory in a competitive handicap at Newmarket last week. Trainer Mick Easterby must always be feared when travelling south to plunder a valuable handicap and the booking of Richard Quinn adds cheer. His mount has only a 5lb penalty for what was ultimately a comfortable success.

Gentleman Venture is another seeking a quick follow-up to an early-season victory, this time in the Stanley Racing City And Suburban Stakes.

But, although he may be a reformed character now, John Akehurst's charge was difficult to catch right previously and others are readily preferred.

Kingsdon is another horse who's not easy to win with, but new handler David Nicholls can find improvement in him.

He really caught the eye running on in the hot Britannia Handicap at Royal Ascot last summer and a repeat of something even approaching that form would see this race sewn up. He is a value bet in this contest.

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Storming Home to land Derby trial

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