Hurricane Lane bursts into Derby picture with Dante Stakes victory

Hurricane Lane burst into the picture for the Derby when knuckling down gamely to win the Dante Stakes at York. Ridden by William Buick and trained by Charlie Appleby, the son of Frankel took control well inside the furlong to claim the Group Two honours and be cut from 12’s into 6-1 for the Epsom Classic.

It was a welcome boost for Godolphin and Appleby after several previous runners in the recognised Classic Trials fell short of expectations. Hurricane Lane (5-1) had to work hard to extend his 100% record on his third career start.

High Definition was sent off the 13-8 favourite to strike for Aidan O’Brien. But it was the stable’s second string Roman Empire, ridden by Hollie Doyle, who looked like springing a surprise after opening up a long lead into the straight. However, Roman Empire came back to the field, and the finish was fought out by Hurricane Lane and Megallan, trained by John and Thady Gosden.

Hurricane Lane ground out success by three-quarters of a length. High Definition was a further length and a quarter away in third, with Roman Empire fourth.

A small field of five goes to post for the Group Two Yorkshire Cup at York on Friday but it is a more competitive heat than the recent renewals in which Stradivarius dominated the market.

Sir Ron Priestley, the runner-up in the 2019 St Leger, is the most interesting runner in the field, having returned after missing his four-year-old season with comfortable victories at Nottingham and Newmarket.

He is an 8-1 chance to deny Stradivarius a fourth Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and is a decent price at around 13-8 on Friday to confirm that he will be a serious rival to the champion stayer next month.

York 1.40 It is little more than guesswork to assess how much improvement some of these juvenile fillies might find, not least as seven of the 13 runners were winners last time out. Instinction can be only a tentative pick but she overcame a slow start and greenness to spring a surprise on her debut in April and has perhaps been underestimated in the betting at around 12-1.

York 2.10 This is much tougher than the maiden which Snow Lantern landed at Newbury in April, a win which saw her briefly cut to around 10-1 for the 1,000 Guineas before Richard Hannon decided to steer her around the Classic. Love Is You, third home in the Nell Gwynn and just behind Saffron Beach, the Guineas runner-up, brings Group-class form and could be her sternest opponent, but Snow Lantern looked potentially top-class last time and can find the necessary improvement to continue her march to the top.

Newbury 2.25 Barbill put up a big effort on his first start since September to finish second in a decent race at Kempton with subsequent winner May Sonic – the narrow favourite for this race – nearly four lengths adrift. He is 4lb better off with that rival here and arguably open to more improvement for the run.

York 2.40 Blue Cup ran into all manner of traffic problems on his return to action at Epsom last month and finished full of running, less than two-and-a-half lengths behind the winner. The Knavesmire should give his rider more room to work with, he is off the same mark and must go very close if he is in anything like that form.

York 3.40 Shawaamekh has been a bit in-and-out since a quickfire double in the summer of 2019, but one of those wins was over track and trip and the other was off a 2lb higher mark than today’s. His first run after a wind-op, at Chester last week, was his best for some time and he does not have much to find from today’s mark to make an impact. Greg Wood