Damysus and Nightwalker were among Classic contenders taking in a racecourse gallop ahead of the Betfred Derby on June 7
Co-trainer Thady Gosden has hailed the Betfred Derby as “the defining race of the season”, after watching his two contenders for next month’s iconic contest take to the unique Epsom Downs track for a racecourse gallop on Tuesday morning [May 27].
Damysus and Nightwalker are 10-1 and 40-1 chances respectively with sponsors Betfred and both took part in a gallops morning under riders James Doyle and Rab Havlin at the Surrey track.
Thady Gosden has sent out only two runners in the race since joining his father John on the training licence in 2021 and he is well aware of the primary importance of the £1.5 million Classic.
“Winning a Derby is why people do this,” he said. “Of course, it’s great to be able to have two chances going into it and you just hope it goes well on the day.
“Just coming to the Derby for any reason is pretty hard to forget. It’s an amazing spectacle and it’s the defining race of the season, for a lot of people and for their careers. It’s a special track, it’s a special place when it’s full and it’s a wonderful day to be involved in.”
Gosden’s father has won the Derby twice, with Benny The Dip (1997) and Golden Horn (2015).
“When Benny The Dip won I was only two so I can’t say the memories are too vivid,” said Thady. “But Golden Horn was a pretty wonderful day. We had Jack Hobbs in the race too, who was purchased by my mother and some of her friends at Tatts Book 2 and of course became Godolphin as well. Going into the race he was second in the Dante and then second in the Derby so that was a pretty memorable day.”
On the importance of getting a racecourse gallop at Epsom into his two colts, Thady went on: “It’s a great thing to do with them when it’s quiet, relaxed and not overly stressful. The track is in fantastic condition – as we know we haven’t had much rain at all over the past several weeks but Andrew Cooper [clerk of the course] couldn’t have had it in any better shape this morning. It’s riding beautifully, there’s a great cover of grass and hopefully it’s a positive experience for them.
“It's a very unique track which is impossible to emulate anywhere and just for them to get a feel for it and perhaps get them a few strides quicker in the race can only be a positive thing. It certainly should help them both.
“They both handled it very well. They’re very intelligent horses, the pair of them, really taking it in. You could see Damysus pricking his ears coming to the line.
“They’re slightly different types, you would assume, but their first introduction to the place and they’ve both travelled smoothly through it and when they came to join each other they quicken up nicely over the line.
“It’s not the easiest race to prepare for – obviously coming here this morning helps but it’s a unique test of everything and until you actually get to it you don’t really know how it’s going to go.”
The Dante Stakes is a well-worn path to Derby participation for the Gosdens, with both of John’s Derby winners having won the G2 event at York en route to Epsom.
Both Damysus and Nightwalker ran in this year’s renewal, finishing second and fifth respectively behind fellow Derby contender Pride Of Arras. “Neither of them had hugely hard races in the Dante,” explained Thady. “As we know Epsom is a unique track so it’s good for them to have a little feel beforehand.
“The Dante was an interesting race,” he went on. “There were a few little things to take out of it but these are two horses that we think will suit here well. It’ll be another step up in the Derby, as it should be, but we’re very happy with them both at the moment.
“In the Dante they were both doing their best work late on. It was a hot trial as it should be and always is, but off that performance they’ve both shown that they deserve to come here.”
On whether they will stay the Derby trip, he added: “You’d be surprised if they don’t. Their pedigree suggests that they do and also the way that they travel during a race points to that as well. You’d expect both of them not to have a problem with a mile and a half. They’re both talented colts, both have a good turn of foot and both travel well in their races.”
Thady Gosden on the stable’s Derby pair
Damysus:James (Doyle) was very happy with him today. He’s a horse who’s a very laidback character but every start this year he’s become more alert, woken up and made progress.
The way he travelled round there this morning, he’s done everything James has asked him to do, he’s very well balanced and a very together horse and he handled the track great this morning. With the Wathnan team we’d earmarked this race for him a while back and planned the route to it which hopefully is going as we’d hoped.
Nightwalker:He’s always shaped like a horse who would get the mile and a half no problem and of course he’s bred to as well, and you’d like to think he’ll take another step forward and improve for it.
He’s pretty laidback. He’s obviously a horse that we inherited from Sir Michael Stoute at the end of last year so we were getting to know him early in the year and he really seems to have matured this year.
He’s very straightforward in his home work. You can see today he led round here and was very easy to manage and has the ideal temperament.
Even towards the back-end of last season it was looking like he might shape into that type but with the start of a new season and a horse we were just getting to know, we had this in mind for him along with Barry Mahon and the Juddmonte team, and he’s shaped and progressed in the right way coming into it.
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