WHILE the Investec Derby Trial at Epsom can produce a decent winner, you have to go a long way back to find the last victor who went on to take the main event.
Peter Pan in 1939 was the last horse to win the Trial before going on to Derby glory and given the highest-rated runner in the race is off a mark of 99, the mile-and-a-half event appears to be a Derby Trial in name only again.
That said, there are a clutch of unexposed runners in the field and Top Beak could be worth taking a chance on despite having to find a chunk of weight with the top-rated Humphrey Bogart.
Top Beak has had just the one start to date when he was something of a rare first-time-out winner for Hughie Morrison at Windsor last October.
Triumphing over an extended mile, Top Beak ground out a head victory over Mountain Bell and while the verdict was hardly impressive, the fact the second, third, fourth and fifth have all won since certainly gives the form a pleasing lustre.
Ennaadd was one of those in behind and given he now boasts a rating of 106, Top Beak’s win looks pretty good.
The Lawman colt has some way to go to make up into a Classic contender, but the fact Morrison runs at all is worth noting.
Not every horse acts around the undulating Epsom track, so the fact Prendergast Hill is already a course winner counts as a massive positive in the Investec Corporate Banking Great Metropolitan Handicap.
The four-year-old won a 10-furlong event on the Downs last September on what was the last of his three 2015 outings for Ed de Giles.
He then returned to action over 11 furlongs at Kempton last month where just could not make up ground quickly enough in finishing fourth, suggesting a step up in trip might be a wise option.
A couple of his siblings have been notable stayers so there is every hope 12 furlongs should suit.
Dark Red can follow up on his recent Chelmsford success in the Investec City And Suburban Stakes.
Ed Dunlop’s charge was securing a first career success that day as he had his first outing since last June, during which he had undergone a gelding operation.
That change has clearly had a positive effect and he could be well treated off a mark of 81.
IRISH NEWS YANKEE
Nap: Top Beak (2.30: Epsom)
Double: Prendergast Hill (3.05: Epsom)
Treble: Dark Red (3.40; Epsom)
Yankee: The Black Princess (4.45: Lingfield)
