Hazapour

Hazapour only finished fifth in the Derby in the end, but he still ran a big race. They went a fast pace from early, and Dermot Weld’s horse was never far off it. He raced along the inside in fourth or in a share of third place with The Pentagon behind Knight To Behold and Kew Gardens. He travelled well into the home straight, and when Frankie Dettori moved him towards the outside and allowed him move up to join the leaders, it looked as if he could go on and win it. He traded at 2/1 in-running at that point. He just wasn’t as strong in the finish as the closers, but he still kept on well enough to retain fifth place, with a nice break between him and the sixth horse Delano Roosevelt.

Hazapour is out of a half-sister to his owner The Aga Khan’s 2016 Derby winner Harzand, but he is by Shamardal, and he just didn’t have the requisite stamina in the end for the Derby. That was accentuated by the fact that he raced close up behind a fast pace from early. It was a race that was run to suit the hold-up horses, and the four horses who finished in front of him were all behind him through the early stages of the race. And it is interesting that, before he made his seasonal debut in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial, trainer Dermot Weld said that he was showing so much pace at home, he considered running him in the Amethyst Stakes over a mile on the same day instead.

That said, he saw out the 10 furlongs of the Derrinstown race well. And that was his seasonal debut, and just his fourth run ever, so it was legitimate to expect that he would improve for it.

He will be interesting dropped down to 10 furlongs, which is surely the plan for him now. All the top 10 furlong races during the season are open to him, races like the Juddmonte International, the Irish Champion Stakes and the Champion Stakes. It would not be surprising if Dermot Weld was working back from the Irish Champion Stakes, with the objective of having him at concert pitch for 15th September.

Epsom, 2^nd June 2018