From the Dante to the Derby for Wathnan’s Damysus

Second place but a first-class ticket – that’s the position Wathnan Racing’s flashy chestnut colt Damysus finds himself in, after showing an impressive turn of foot when taking second place in the Dante Stakes at York last week. It’s a performance good enough to book his place in the field for the world’s premier flat race, the Derby, run at Epsom on the first Saturday in June.

Thursday’s race is named after the last winner of the Derby to be trained in the north of England. That was back in 1945, the last of the ‘wartime’ Derbys. The race that is now run in his honour has come to be widely regarded as the very best of the European Classic trials. On a course that’s known to favour front-running horses, Damysus came from near the back of the field to sweep past all his rivals except Pride Of Arras.

In the last decade, Derby winners Desert Crown and Golden Horn used victory in the Dante as the stepping stone to Derby glory. Over the years some great horses have finished second in the Dante, too – none better than Workforce, who memorably went on to win both the Derby and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in the same year.

Damysus is a very nimble horse so the idiosyncrasies of the Derby course should hold no fears. Furthermore, the extra two furlongs he’ll be running over at Epsom should suit him, too. It’s hugely exciting for Wathnan Racing to have one of the leading contenders for what is, after all, the most famous flat race of them all.