Sandown Friday

ARABIAN Crown (Charlie Appleby/William Buick) is unbeaten since his debut and last season’s Zetland Stakes winner looked a genuine candidate for Epsom with a domineering defeat of seven rivals in the Group 3 Bet365 Classic Trial.

The son of Dubawi looked to have wintered well and the 5/6 favourite gave his backers no cause for concern as he powered three and a quarter lengths clear of the well-regarded MacDuff (Ralph Beckett/Rosa Ryan) with Remaadd (William Haggas/Tom Marquand) half a length away in third.

Arabian Crown improved as his stamina was drawn out as a juvenile, taking the Listed Stonehenge Stakes at Salisbury before a wide-margin win in the Group 3 Zetland Stakes over a mile and a quarter, and he looks sure to stay the Derby trip based on his strength at the finish here.

Gordon Richards Stakes

The Group 3 Gordon Richards Stakes at Sandown on Friday saw Harry Charlton gain his first pattern success since taking over from father Roger as the sole licensee at Beckhampton, with 10/3 chance Okeechobee (Ryan Moore) getting the better of a driving finish with Desert Hero (William Haggas/Tom Marquand) to score by a head, making it a double on the card for the rookie handler, who had earlier saddled Hand Of God to win the Esher Cup.

The pace was set by Tasman Bay before favourite Israar and Jim Crowley took over at the quarter-mile pole and kicked on.

That move looked well timed, and Israar was only worn down inside the final 100 yards and beaten less than a length at the line with the first three well clear.

Winner of the Doncaster Mile on his reappearance, Roger Varian’s Charyn (Silvestre de Sousa) put his fitness to good use to land the Group 2 Bet365 Mile, finishing strongly down the outside to wear down Poker Face (Simon and Ed Crisford) to win by a length and a quarter.

Lord North (John and Thady Gosden/William Buick) was a neck behind Poker Face in third. Nostrum once again flopped and is becoming very expensive to follow, Ryan Moore easing him as if something was amiss in the closing stages.

Charyn was returned the 9/4 favourite and showed a tenacious attitude to get to grips with the strong-travelling runner-up who tracked the pace-setting Pogo until going on a furlong out.

Around the tracks

To all intents and purposes, Willie Mullins put the British Trainers’ Championship out of Dan Skelton’s reach, but there’s nothing like being sure.

On Monday, Rath Gaul Boy landed odds of 2/9 at Ffos Las, while the win of Daddy Long Legs at Ludlow on Tuesday may not have paid for the travel costs of four short-priced losers at Perth, but that £4,357 earned by the 1/7 shot could yet prove crucial. Stoke The Fire added another £4,224 when winning under Patrick Mullins on Friday at Perth.

One of the more intriguing Irish-trained winners of recent days was Katie McGivern three-year-old Kendall Roy.

I missed giving Kendall Roy a mention when he won at Windsor recently where he broke the course record in winning off a BHA mark of 65 and was able to follow up at Thirsk on Saturday under a penalty.

McGivern is better known as a pinhooker and successful breeze-up consignor. Kendall Roy’s Thirsk success gave her a fifth winner from just 28 runners since the start of last year.

Classic pointer

There was a classic pointer at Epsom on Tuesday, with the Blue Riband Trial taking place, although it’s been 85 years since the winner went on to double up in the Derby itself.

The latest renewal saw Chief Little Rock start an odds-on favourite, but despite dictating, Aidan O’Brien’s colt could not repel the strong challenge of Bellum Justum (Andrew Balding/Oisin Murphy), who finished strongly to win by three-quarters of a length from Defiance (Roger Varian/James Doyle), who passed the favourite close home to grab second place. The winner went off at 9/1 and is entered in the Dante Stakes at York as well as the Derby.