IT TAKES a lot of forward planning to win the Derby so even though next June's big race is still six months away, the entries for the 2010 running of the premier Classic have just been unveiled.
The owners of 388 yearlings, down from last year's figure of 474, are already dreaming of glory and for the time being at least, the lure of a minimum prize fund of £1,250,000 will mask the knowledge that 387 of them are destined to be disappointed.
The would-be Derby heroes are still such babies that only a quarter of the entries have been named, but there are plenty of well-kent faces among the list of owners with the Coolmore team of Sue Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor responsible for a mere 72 hopefuls, all but four of them based with Aidan O'Brien. Among that number is a $2million Storm Cat colt bought at Saratoga in August.
In comparison to the Coolmore battalions, great rivals Godolphin 'only' have 31 entries while the Aga Khan, currently the most successful owner in the race having won it four times since 1981, has 25. There's also three Royal entries as Her Majesty bids to capture the only Classic that has eluded her thus far although those more into Abba than Queen may be more interested to see that Benny Andersson has pencilled in the John Dunlop-trained Montjeu colt he paid 650,000 guineas for at the Tattersalls Sales.
With three further declaration stages, any of the 388 lucky enough to make the final line-up will have cost their owners almost £7,000 in entry fees before race time rolls round. Quite possibly, of course, the 2010 Derby winner doesn't even figure on the list as there's still time to enter.
"It would appear some smaller owners have decided not to enter their yearlings, happy in the knowledge that if they have a horse good enough then a Derby entry can be made in April of his or her three-year-old career," explained Andrew Cooper, Epsom's Director of Racing.
That, though, is an even more expensive route to the Blue Riband as entry at that stage will set an owner back £8,000 plus another £10,000 the following month and a further £2,500 at the five-day confirmation stage.
Those for whom money is no object will probably not bother with all that palaver and just pay the £75,000 it costs to get into the race a week before the event.
"The entry system is reviewed internally on an annual basis and has three fundamental objectives – to assist in ensuring that the race remains the most valuable Classic in Europe, to ensure that the opportunity exists for the best horses of their generation to compete, however late their development, and to enable smaller owners to buy into the 'Derby dream' at a comparatively low price," added Cooper.
Not quite as many want to buy into the 'Welsh Grand National Dream' it would seem with 55 standing their ground at the latest forfeit stage for the Chepstow marathon on 27 December.
Halcon Genelardais, successful in 2006 and runner-up 12 months ago, heads the weights and along with ante-post market leader, Nenuphar Collonges, is one of two possibles for Alan King.
Last year's winner Miko de Beauchene is also there as are the Paul Nicholls' trio of Nozic, Cornish Sett and Officier De Reserve, recent Cheltenham scorer Mon Mome and Irish challenger Notre Pere.
Highly promising conditional jockey Rhys Flint continues to attract plenty of praise and if he can win at Ludlow on the nap Oiseau de Nuit, who'll carry the yellow and black colours made famous by Rooster Booster, I'll join his fan club.
The best bet won on his seasonal debut at Lingfield and was badly hampered when having to settle for second best on his latest Wincanton appearance.
The full article contains 667 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
