Yeats remains at the top of the Epsom Derby betting after retaining his unbeaten record at Leopardstown yesterday with a display that seemed to raise as many questions as it answered.
Just like the Ballysax Stakes last month, Yeats had to make all the running in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial but this time there was no 10-length demolition as the Dermot Weld pair, Relaxed Gesture and Medicinal, harried the 1 to 5 favourite all the way to the line.
The head harrier was Relaxed Gesture who closed to within a length and a half and it was that which left the bookmakers unmoved. Most left the market unchanged but Paddy Power went so far as to push Yeats' odds for Epsom out to 11 to 4 from 5 to 2.
After One Cool Cat's 2,000 Guineas flop maybe it was relief at one of his Classic A-Team coming out on top that had Aidan O'Brien refusing to be underwhelmed at what he had just seen but his satisfaction still seemed pretty convincing. "What more could you ask for?" he queried the besieging press pack before making the wholly legitimate point that Galileo (2001) was far from impressive in winning this race before scoring at Epsom.
Indeed, the same could be said of the 2002 winner High Chaparral and Yeats may yet end up boosting the remarkable recent record of yesterday's Group Two contest in racing's blue riband.
"It's very hard to make comparisons to the others but this is a similar kind of horse who gallops, stays and you couldn't say he lacks quality," said O'Brien when pressed to make comparisons with his former champions. "I would say he will continue to improve the whole time. He was only playing along in front there."
As for Epsom, he added: "This is a very straightforward horse. He would love a lead but he won't mind leading if he has to. He's a good moving horse and he's extremely relaxed which will help."
That didn't convince everyone but significantly Dermot Weld needed no convincing of the winner's quality, nor indeed that of his own colt, Relaxed Gesture. "I think Yeats is a very good horse. To be fair to him he did it the hard way again and he wasn't stopping," said Weld who is looking at Classic options of his own. "We will make a decision at the end of the week about whether we will supplement Relaxed Gesture for the Epsom Derby or if he might go for the Belmont Stakes in America on the same day," he said.
It's 14 years since Weld broke the mould with Go And Go in New York and he admitted a repeat bid has been on his mind with Relaxed Gesture. "That's why I ran him in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last year. He has no problems with dirt and I thought he ran a good race in the Breeders' Cup," he said.
"We will have to see what the classic trials are like in England and what happens in the Preakness. We'll see how the cards unfold and play last!"
The O'Brien-trained Meath was a 20 to 1 shot for Epsom before the Amethyst Stakes but despite starting an 8 to 11 favourite for the Listed race he found D'Anjou g half a length too good. "He is unpredictable but seems to be a different horse here than anywhere else," said the winner's trainer John Oxx. "We found out in Dubai he gets a mile and we will come back for the Glencairn Stakes."
Jim Bolger has Classic ambitions of his own with Alexander Goldrun who overcame a slow start and interference to edge out Misty Heights in the Group Three 1,000 Guineas Trial. "She's plucky and I imagine she will go for the Irish Guineas," said Bolger. She would have needed that run and she goes on any ground."
Proof that the Bolger team are in fine form came when Democratic Deficit justified market support in the opener and Monsignor Phil held on by a neck from Raggtime Toon in the mile and a half handicap.
Gold Chaser, now trained by Noel Furlong, was the gamble in the mile handicap but couldn't get close to the winner Christavelli while Akarem held off Monaser by the minimum margin after a titanic finish to the nine furlong maiden.
