Australia aims to live up to pedigree in Epsom Derby

Australia will face 15 rivals in Saturday's Derby at Epsom, with Aidan

O'Brien's much-vaunted colt set to break from stall 12 in his bid to provide

Coolmore with a fourth consecutive renewal and his trainer with a fifth overall.

As with the recent blue riband heroes Sir Percy, New Approach, Sea the Stars

and Camelot, Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor and Teo Ah Khing's

chestnut launched his season in the Two Thousand Guineas and, like that quartet,

performed to a high standard over Newmarket's undulating Rowley Mile. There were

shades of Hawk Wing in his admirable effort five weeks ago, as he dominated the

stand's-side group as his predecessor had 12 years earlier only to lose out

overall by less than a length.

Despite his exploits there, Australia's destiny has always lain over this

trip and arguably at this track, where his sire Galileo took command of

proceedings 13 years ago and his dam, Ouija Board, first showed her true mettle

in the Oaks in 2004. Lammtarra was the last to win this for a Derby-winning sire

and Oaks-winning dam 19 years ago, and Joseph O'Brien is aware of the

heavily-favoring portents for his mount.

"He's bred to stay the trip, he's bred to handle the track and he's probably

bred to win the Derby, which is what you need heading here," he said. "It's a

great test of a racehorse. Since he came into the yard and started working, he

was always a very good horse -- he has plenty of pace and is well-balanced, and

his mum and dad both handled the track well."

While the draw has a negligible impact on this twisting-and-turning path to

Tesio's famed winning post, the bare statistics cast a shadow over those exiting

from the first two stalls over this track and trip. Not since Oath provided Sir

Henry Cecil with his last renewal in the white bridle of The Thoroughbred

Corporation in 1999 has a colt prevailed from 1 or 2, but a closer study of the

facts suggest that the vast majority who raced from the inside posts in the

interim lacked the requisite class to make an impact here.

Only six of the 26 drawn 1 or 2 traded at single-figure prices and of those,

only Brian Boru and Dubai Millennium went on to win at the highest level, having

failed in this unique test. Breaking from the 1 post position this time is

Godolphin's True Story, who dented a reputation greatly enhanced by a win in the

nine-furlong Feilden at Newmarket April 16 when only third at 8-13 in York's

Dante Stakes last time May 15.

While his eclipse in that all-important extended 10-furlong trial was seen as

a disappointment in the immediate aftermath, it can be viewed in a different

light now that the winner, The Grey Gatsby, has gone on to capture Chantilly's

equivalent of this Classic.

Saeed bin Suroor, who trained the aforementioned Lammtarra, has pinned his

colors to the mast of Epsom specialist Kieren Fallon this time, and that

accomplished rider knows these contours inside out, having enjoyed three wins in

this and four in the Oaks. Now 49, the talented jockey with the checkered past

is the same age as Sir Gordon Richards when he finally gained his first victory

in this Classic in 1953, and Mick Kinane when he rode his final winner on Sea

the Stars in 2009, and one year older than when Lester Piggott registered the

last of his nine Derby wins in 1983.

Buoyed by his Two Thousand Guineas success on Night of Thunder, Fallon is

back in the zone after a brief slump.

"The buzz I got winning on Night of Thunder, I'd never felt that before," he

told the Daily Mail. "Last year when the rides were drying up, I was

getting out of bed at 11 or 12 and rolling up to the races. It is not a way to

prepare yourself. I am looking after myself better now and feel better than I

have ever done. I am getting that buzz again. It has been my kick-start to

getting back on track again, and I love Epsom -- it is a thinking course."

Of True Story, who may have "bounced" in the Dante after his seven-length

demolition of the smart Irish colt Obliterator, with a subsequent listed winner

a further six behind in fourth in the Feilden, he added, "If the ground is

better, he will be a better horse. He has a better turn of foot than my previous

Derby winners. North Light was a powerful galloper, Kris Kin was a lazy horse, a

grinder, and Oath was the same, but this horse can really quicken."

In the next gate is last year's Racing Post Trophy hero Kingston Hill, the

main market-mover in recent days, while in the stall 4, which housed Sea the

Stars and the 2003 winner Kris Kin, is another Godolphin representative in

Pinzolo. He beat the subsequent impressive Heron Stakes winner Master Carpenter

in Newmarket's Fairway Stakes over 10 furlongs last time May 17, and is joined

by the fellow Charlie Appleby-trained Sudden Wonder, who was third in the May 10

Lingfield Derby Trial.

The winner of the Lingfield Derby Trial, Snow Sky, was the race's most

notable withdrawal Thursday after the Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt failed to

recover in time from an injured joint.

Khalid Abdullah's Racing Manager Teddy Grimthorpe issued a statement which

read, "Sir Michael Stoute reported that the colt was not quite 100 percent this

morning, so will not be declared for the Derby. He could now go to the King

Edward VII Stakes (June 20) at Royal Ascot."

That eventuality caused a  twist in the 2014 Derby's tale, with

Juddmonte's retained rider James Doyle being snapped up by Appleby for Pinzolo,

with Mickael Barzalona replaced.

"On days like Saturday, I will use whoever I feel is suitable for the horse

and that I hope will get the best result for the team," the trainer told the

Racing Post. "(Doyle) is a jockey who is riding at the top of his game at

the moment."

Of the two stable hopes, he added, "I've been delighted with their

preparation. We've been on a bit of a weather-watch regarding Pinzolo, but

they've had a bit of rain. He's fit and well and there's only one Derby, so

we'll take our chance."

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