Alwaary declines chance to run in Derby

Devoid, as it was, of Irish horses, the Cocked Hat Stakes at Goodwood yesterday promised to throw up a rare British runner in the Derby. Victory for the Queen's Free Agent would have been better still, yet neither aspiration came to pass. Alwaary's fluent score served only to fine-tune him for the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Free Agent ran perfectly well to finish fourth after he fared worst in a three-way photo for second place. It was the colt's first run for 11 months, during which he was confined to his box for much of the winter after a bone flake was removed from a hind leg. In the circumstances it was always unrealistic to expect too much of him - much less to carry the nation's fortunes at Epsom.
Ironically, his task was summed up perfectly by John Gosden, who explained that Alwaary, too, had failed to thrive over the winter. In dismissing a Derby bid for Hamdan's al-Maktoum's homebred, Gosden said: “When they get behind, you can't catch up. You have to accept it, otherwise you'll soon be left with no horse.”
Richard Hannon, who trains Free Agent, effectively concurred. “There will be no Derby for him,” Hannon said. “I thought I had him fairly fit, but it turned out that he needed it. He's been off for a long time and he was probably a bit rusty.”
The sedate pace dictated by Frankie Dettori aboard Chock A Block was not what Hannon wanted to see. He had instructed Richard Hughes to settle the colt regardless of the pace. “On reflection, it might have been different if he'd gone off quickly from the front,” the trainer said.
Nevertheless, Free Agent held his corner when the pace quickened in the straight. He had no answer to the winner's surge from the rear, but Hughes was easy on him thereafter. “I know that he's a decent horse,” Hannon said. “He's done us one good turn so far and I'm sure he'll do us more.”
A return to Royal Ascot, where he won last season, now beckons Free Agent. Like Alwaary, he will have the King Edward VII entry in addition to one in the Queen's Vase over two miles. That the Queen will have up to six runners at the royal meeting attests to the recent revival in her bloodstock fortunes.
It has been kick-started by her commitment to deploying some of Europe's more expensive stallions on her broodmare band. The revival has certainly brought joy to long-standing followers of the turf, and if rather too much Derby expectation was invested in Free Agent, it was exacerbated by the paucity of British-trained candidates to repel the hordes from Ireland.
The first six in William Hill's betting all hail from across the Irish Sea. They are headed by Fame And Glory and Sea The Stars, from the stables of Aidan O'Brien and John Oxx respectively. The most advanced British-trained horse is the 16-1 chance, Crowded House, who must rate a doubtful starter after his Dante disappointment. Godolphin's Kite Wood stands at 20-1, with Debussy, a stablemate of Alwaary, at 25-1.
At least Debussy is a definite starter. “He has won at Epsom,” Gosden said of the colt who finished third in the Chester Vase last time. “He has come on for that, but he'll need to. Someone's got to turn up from our country, although it does look between Sea The Stars and Fame And Glory. They look like very good horses. That's why we can't match them.”
Hannon's Derby dreams evaporated with Free Agent but he did not leave Goodwood empty-handed after sending out La Pantera to win a two-year-old maiden that he has farmed down the years. He is also looking forward to running Soul City in the Irish 2,000 Guineas on Saturday, although heavy ground at the Curragh tempers his enthusiasm. “I spoke to Dessie Hughes and he told me the course was waterlogged in places,” Hannon said. “The horse has won on soft ground before, but soft is very different to heavy. Still, he is fit, and we'll take our chance.”
Source:The times