By Sam Turner -
Charlie Appleby trainee Arabian Crown, arguably Godolphin’s leading hope for the Derby, strengthened his Epsom claims with a dominant display in Sandown’s G3 Classic Trial under a fine tactical ride from William Buick.
The son of Dubawi, winner of three of his four juvenile starts including a wide margin success in the G3 Zetland Stakes at Newmarket last autumn, broke quickly under Buick who was keen to stamp his authority on the 2000m feature from an early stage.
Displaying his trademark professionalism, Arabian Crown eased two lengths clear on the home bend and continued to extend away from his rivals, looking as strong at the line as he was at any stage of the race.
Juddmonte owned Macduff kept on manfully to take second, three-and-a-quarter lengths adrift of the winner, while Remaadd, racing in the colours of Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was a creditable third under Tom Marquand.
A delighted Buick said: “As far a trial goes, I would think everyone would be very happy with that, I know I was. I felt there was plenty of progression left in him and it’s quite testing out there.
“It is early in the season so naturally he is going to progress. He’s incredibly straightforward and Charlie was very keen to go forward on him as he has a big stride on him, and he likes to use it.
“He changed gear two and a half furlongs out and attacked the hill, so it was a very nice performance. Charlie and the team will decide whether he needs to run again, but he doesn’t lack experience and is a very straightforward horse with a good cruising speed which is what you need in a Derby.”
