DERBY TRIAL WIN FOR HIGHLAND REEL'S BROTHER

We are just days away from the first European classics of the year and although the focus to now has mostly been on trials for those mile events there have also been some potential Derby contenders on show.

The Investec Blue Riband Trial is a 10-furlong listed contest at Epsom and this year's edition, which took place on Wednesday afternoon, produced a good finish.

The race was won by So Mi Dar in 2016 and Cracksman in 2017, and it remains to be seen if the 2019 victor, Cape Of Good Hope , will become as notable as either of that pair.

Both he and the strong-finishing Cap Francais outstayed third-placed Turgenev, the margins were half a length and three-quarters of a length, and there was a gap of six lengths back to the fourth.

The winner is trained by Aidan O'Brien, he was bred by the Hveger Syndicate and this was his second win from six runs.

He finished out of the frame on his first two starts at two, landed a seven-and-a-half-furlong Tipperary maiden in July, chased home Quorto in the Group 2 Superlative Stakes at on the July course at Newmarket and then finished third to Mohawk in the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes over the Rowley Mile in late September.

He was rated 106 going to Epsom, which is a long way short of what will required if he is to make the frame in the Group 1 Investec Derby there in June, but this son of Galileo (by Sadler's Wells) is a full-brother to the prolific Group 1 star Highland Reel and also to the high-class Idaho.

The latter, who joined the roster at Beeches Stud this year, earned around £1.2 million in prize money, an impressive total yet one that pales in comparsion to the more than £7.5 million accumulated by Coolmore Stud stallion Highland Reel, whose first foals have been arriving this spring.

Their half-sister Valdemoro (by Encosta De Lago) was Group 1-placed in Australia, as was their dam Hveger (by Danehill), and that full-sister to multiple Group 1 star Elvstroem is also notable as being a half-sister to triple Group 1 ace Haradasun (by Fusaichi Pegasus).

Those two half-brothers have had mixed results at stud, one of Elvstroem's first French-conceived juveniles is already a winner in 2019, and they represent a branch of the family of Group 1 sprint champion and notably successful stallion Starspangledbanner (by Choisir).

In addition to the Investec Derby, Cape Of Good Hope, a 240,000gns graduate of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, holds entries in the Dante Stakes, Irish 2000 Guineas, and Irish Derby, and at the time of writing was available at 20/1 for Epsom on the first Saturday in June.

But is he the only potential Derby horse who ran in Wednesday's race?

The Ed Walker-trained runner-up may have won with another half-furlong to travel – the extra distance would at least have produced a battle – and he too could be a high-class middle-distance colt in the making.

Cap Francais, a son of Frankel (by Galileo) who was bred by the late Jeff Pearce, holds an entry in the Dante Stakes at York but would need to be supplemented for the Investec Derby.

He was runner-up on his debut at two, then won a pair of mile novice races by an aggregate of five and a half lengths, and he is a half-brother to two stakes winners.

St Jean Cap Ferrat (by Domedriver) won a listed contest over nine furlongs, whereas Miss Cap Estel (by Hernando) got her one over 10 and was also a runaway winner of a 12-furlong handicap on heavy ground.

They are out of Miss Cap Ferret (by Darshaan) and their dam's siblings include Miss Corniche (by Hernando), the stakes-winning dam of the Group 2-placed Ebor Handicap scorer Moyenne Corniche (by Selkirk).

The plethora of blacktype horses in the family also include Cap Francais's grandam Miss Beaulieu (by Northfields) – who won the Lupe Stakes and was placed in both the Group 2 Sun Chariot Stakes and Group 2 Nassau Stakes – and the talented but ill-fated stayer St Michel (by Sea The Stars) who placed third in both the Group 2 Doncaster Cup and Group 2 Lonsdale Cup.

Cape Of Good Hope has a flashier pedigree than has Cap Francais, but either or both of these colts could go on to greater things as the year progresses.

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MASTERCRAFTSMAN FILLY TO STEP UP IN GRADE

Coolmore Stud's Mastercraftsman (by Danehill Dancer) had an outstanding year in 2018 with top-level success for Alpha Centauri in Ireland, England and France, for Danzdanzdance in New Zealand, and for A Raving Beauty in the USA, among other results of note.

His blacktype tally in 2019 already includes a pair of Grade 1 wins for Chilean three-year-old Ya Primo – including a four-and-a-half-length score in the El Derby at Valparaiso in February – plus listed success for the Jessica Harrington-trained Still Standing at Naas last month, and a recent Grade 3 win for the Chad Brown-trained Santa Monica at Gulfstream Park.

His overall career tally of 61 stakes winners (up to Wednesday evening) includes a dozen who have won at the highest level, and although it seems unlikely that the 102-rated Agrotera can add her name to that more select list, there is no doubt that she has abililty.

Last year's Sandringham Handicap winner at Royal Ascot came within a head of adding a listed contest at ParisLongchamp in September, but the Ed Walker-trained four-year-old gained some compensation for that narrow loss with victory in the Listed Racing TV Snowdrop Fillies' Stakes on the Polytrack at Kempton on Saturday.

Bjorn Nielsen's homebred chesnut looks ready to step up in grade and it will be interesting to see how far up the rankings this capable miler can go.

She is the second foal of Lombatina (by King's Best), has two winning siblings, and she comes from a famous family.

Her lightly-raced dam won easily over six furlongs at Chantilly on her juvenile debut and that mare's three blacktype siblings feature Group 1 Premio Lydia Tesio scorer Sortilege (by Tiger Hill).

They are out of Sahel (by Monsun), and as the next dam is Sacarina (by Old Vic), the grandam of Agrotera is a full-sister to the Group 1 stars Samum, Schiaparelli, and Salve Regina.

The first-named won the Deutsches Derby by five lengths and was later crowned champion sire in Germany, and his younger brother's Deutsches Derby victory was the first of five races that he won at the highest level. Schiaparelli, a successful National Hunt stallion, stands at Overbury Stud.

Salve Regina was runner-up in the the 2002 edition of that same classic but won the Preis der Diana (German Oaks), and her offspring include US Grade 2 scorer Salve Germania (by Peintre Celebre).

Agrotera has raced almost exclusively over a mile but is bred to stay a bit farther. It will be interesting to see how her season is mapped out and, tooking to future years, there is every reason to hope that she can become a broodmare of note.

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DUE DILIGENCE FILLY MAKES ALL

Whitsbury Manor Stud stallion Due Diligence (by War Front) added his name to the list of freshman sires with a winner in 2019 when his daughter Littledidyouknow took the five-furlong novice event at Southwell on Sunday.

The Archie Watson-trained debutante made all, overcame greenness and won by a length and a quarter.

The €15,000 Goffs Sportsmans Sale graduate was bred by Rathasker Stud, she is the fourth foal out of six-furlong winner Solfilia (by Teofilo), and she is a granddaughter of Suntory (by Royal Applause), a six and seven-furlong winner whose siblings feature Fracas (by In The Wings).

That Group 1-placed, 10-furlong Group 2 scorer finished fourth to Motivator in the Derby at Epsom and has achieved some success as a dual-purpose stallion, notably as the sire of Smash Williams.

The fourth dam of Littledidyouknow is the multiple Group 1-placed Sorbus (by Busted) who was disqualified after passing the post in front in the Irish Oaks.

The juvenile is, therefore, from a branch of the famous Group 1-producing family of Wemyss Bight (by Dancing Brave), Beat Hollow (by Sadler's Wells), Oasis Dream (by Green Desert), Zenda (by Zamindar), and Kingman (by Invincible Spirit).