St. Mark's Basilica goes for another classic in French Derby
St. Mark’s Basilica already has won one French Classic race this year and he is back from Ireland seeking a second one Sunday in the Prix du Jockey Club, the French Derby.
Trained by Aidan O’Brien, who drew forth a star performance Friday from Snowfall, 16-length winner of the Oaks at Epsom, St. Mark’s Basilica on Friday was solidly favored in early fixed-odds wagering to beat 17 rivals in this 1 5/16-mile fixture at Chantilly.
St. Mark’s Basilica ended a successful 2-year-old campaign winning the Dewhurst, Europe’s most important juvenile race, and began his 3-year-old season at Longchamp with a steady score in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains, the one-mile French 2000 Guineas. St. Mark’s Basilica, the mount of Ioritz Mendizabal, stretches out considerably in distance, racing beyond a mile for the first time, but as a son of Siyouni and a Galileo mare, Caberet, he’s bred for this.
Alternatives abound, among them Derab, who is double-digit win odds in early betting and an exciting if unproven prospect for trainers John and Thady Gosden and his owner-breeder, Juddmonte Farms. Derab, like St. Mark’s Basilica, races beyond one mile for the first time but in sharp contrast to the experienced favorite, Derab makes his first start in a stakes race. This is common practice for John Gosden, whose son now officially serves as co-trainer. Gosden will allow a notably talented horse to feast on soft competition before throwing him in with the wolves. Feast Derab did May 14 in a straight mile at Newmarket, winning a novice stakes by more than six lengths, not asked to run until he had drawn well clear of his rivals under his own courage. And there’s the matter of pedigree: Derab is by the great Sea The Stars and out of the Sadler’s Wells mare Concentric, making him a half-brother to the legendary Enable. Gosden won the 2020 French Derby with Mishriff, who also was making his first start in a group race while exiting a win at Newmarket.
O’Brien has a second runner of note in Van Gogh, an American Pharoah colt who was eighth in the English 2000 Guineas and more recently third in the Irish 2000 Guineas. Van Gogh, though, has no more upside than several other colts, including Cheshire Academy, who brings a 3-for-3 record into Sunday’s start for trainer Jean-Claude Rouget and Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm. Cheshire Academy won over the French Derby distance in a Group 3 April 11 at Chantilly after a pair of provincial-track victories. Makaloun, an Aga Khan homebred trained by Rouget, is a five-time winner from six starts and already has won over distance longer than expected for a son of sprinter-miler sire Bated Breath. The Gosdens also have a second runner, Megallan, while another horse from England, El Drama, took a step forward winning the Dee Stakes last out at Chester.
Post time for the feature on a multi-stakes card is 10 a.m. Eastern. Catch all the action at DRFBets.com.