Matt Chapman talks all things Hughie Morrison and the Derby picture in this week’s column
Telcaster was impressive in the Dante - but he would have to be supplemented to run at Epsom
NOT so long ago Hughie Morrison could have been banned from the game for a crime he didn’t commit.
Now the trainer might land the Investec Derby. Those are the ups and downs in the world of horseracing. Morrison sent out Telecaster to land Thursday’s Dante Stakes at York, in which his exciting three-year-old denied last term’s champion juvenile Too Darn Hot.
On January 14, 2017, Morrison ran Our Little Sister at Wolverhampton where she finished last in a two-mile handicap. The filly subsequently tested positive for a banned substance, anabolic steroid nandrolone.
However, after an 11-month trial during which the trainer offered £10,000 to help find those who had injected the horse, Morrison was cleared of any wrongdoing.
He might, though, have been banned for ten years if he had been found guilty.
Morrison is a fascinating character and one I love to interview. He’s intelligent, and often speaks his mind and from the heart. That makes good TV.
Oddly for a man with a real Derby contender, Morrison’s first two major successes came over jumps.
Marble Arch won the 2001 Ladbroke Handicap Hurdle and Frenchman’s Creek landed the 2002 National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival under a genius ride from Paul Carberry.
Since then, the East Ilsley-based trainer has banged in numerous classy successes, including a Group 1 Prix Royal Oak with Alcazar and two July Cups thanks to Pastoral Pursuits and Sakhee’s Secret.
What it tells us is Morrison can train anything that resembles a horse. None of us should be surprised if he lands the world’s most famous Flat race at Epsom.
Telecaster is certainly bred for the track, being by the Derby winner New Approach out of a mare called Shirocco Star, who was also trained by Morrison and who I booked Darryll Holland to ride and finish second on in the Oaks.
Lightly raced, Telecaster has now had just three runs, having started off at Doncaster when beaten by subsequent decent Sandown winner Bangkok.
He then went to Windsor, and absolutely bolted up by nine lengths in a 16-runner field. It suggested he was above average — and so it has proved.
Since the race was first run in 1971, the Dante has thrown up ten Derby winners, and while this year’s renewal is hard to judge with Too Darn Hot possibly not staying and Surfman unexposed, there’s no doubt Telecaster is talented.
Oisin Murphy did a great job on him, as he did on Roaring Lion in the same race just last year. By the way, don’t be fooled by Telecaster’s rather unknown orangey colours of Castle Down Racing.
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He’s basically owned and bred by Meon Valley Stud, which has sent out horses like Colorspin, Milligram, Opera House, Lady Carla, One So Wonderful, Kayf Tara and Speedy Boarding. The breeders know what they are doing.
Telecaster must now be supplemented to the Derby at a cost of £85,000.
It’s a messy Derby picture and I wonder now if Coolmore wish they hadn’t ruled out Magna Grecia, the 2,000 Guineas winner who looks a strong stayer but who connections have said they don’t think will get a mile and a half.
The Chester Vase winner Sir Dragonet is favourite at just under 3-1, while the solid Broome, like Sir Dragonet trained by Aidan O’Brien, is at a general 5-1.
Telecaster and Anthony Van Dyck, the Dewhurst third who was impressive at Lingfield, are a little bigger, while Bangkok has been trimmed into 14-1 and shorter with his form boost at York.
What is for sure is there is no standout contender ahead of the big race at Epsom on June 1.
Roaring Lion didn’t quite get home in the Derby, having hacked up in the Dante, and Too Darn Hot wasn’t able to quite see the Dante trip out, so he’ll likely head to Royal Ascot for the St James’s Palace Stakes.
Too Darn Hot showed enough this week to suggest he will still have a tremendous campaign, which is great news as he was given an equal juvenile rating to the mighty Frankel.
John Gosden’s charge could easily be back at York later in the season for something like the Juddmonte International, although there’s every chance the trainer will run dual Arc heroine Enable in that.
If he did, it’s hard to imagine Too Darn Hot also being in the line-up.
If he was at all disappointed with Too Darn Hot’s comeback, Johnny Gee was purring with confidence after Stradivarius returned with a bang in the Yorkshire Cup.
His trainer reckons he can be a bit of a lad before the race, but really switches on once the stalls open. I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Us true professionals all like to let our hair down once the cameras stop rolling!