Bjorn Nielsen | Horse Racing Free Tips

English King Pleases Walker In Work

G1 Investec Derby favourite English King (Fr) (Camelot {GB}) and new rider Frankie Dettori had an opportunity to get acquainted with one another on the Lambourn gallops on Wednesday, with the Italian partnering the Ed Walker-trained Listed Derby Trial S. winner in a piece of work.

“Today is 10 days out from the Derby, which is always when I would do my last proper piece of work with a horse, and he worked very well,” Walker said. “Frankie came in and had a sit on him, and everything went smoothly. He came out of it good and seems in good shape.

“I wasn’t really nervous about this piece of work, because he’s not a horse that you need or expect to see blasting clear of his lead horse in Frankel-Bullet Train style. I was lucky enough to see that horse work a number of times and I always feared that if that’s what it took to have a Group 1 horse, I probably never would have one. This guy only does what he has to do, and the thing I was most nervous about, with Frankie coming down, was he might not impress Frankie, but he loved the horse. Frankie rode him from his stable and back to his stable–he really wanted to get inside the horse’s head and understand him, which is a mark of Frankie’s professionalism. He rode him for well over an hour, and they got on great.

“His feedback was kind of as I expected–he loves the way he moves, he’s an exceptionally athletic horse and he loved his personality. He’s a playful horse who switches off and conserves energy. He is very straightforward, but has that Montjeu twinkle in his eye. He’ll have another piece of work early next week, all being well. Then it’s just a case of freshening him up and getting him feeling as well as he possibly can for the big day.”

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English King “Interesting” In Derby: Dettori

Frankie Dettori, who on Monday picked up the mount on favourite English King (Fr) (Camelot {GB}) in the July 4 G1 Investec Derby, told Sky Sports Racing on Tuesday that he will get acquainted with Bjorn Nielsen’s Listed Derby Trial S. winner this week.

“I’m going to go and ride him this week,” Dettori said. “I can only go on what I’ve seen, but he was impressive at Newcastle last year, and very impressive at Lingfield.

“He’s interesting. On the plus side, he went round Lingfield like it was a flat track. You would think Epsom is quite similar, so that is a big tick in the box. I’ve had some good success for Bjorn Nielsen with Stradivarius. He approached me when he realised John [Gosden] didn’t have anything for the Derby. He had a quiet word in my ear to see if I would accept the ride, and I said I was all over it. He looks a good horse from what I’ve seen, so it would be my pleasure.

Dettori replaces Tom Marquand aboard the Ed Walker-trained 3-year-old, with the 22-year-old Marquand having ridden him in his maiden-breaking win in November and at Lingfield.

“It [losing big rides] happened a lot to me when I was young,” Dettori reflected. “Tom is 22–I’m sure he’ll have plenty of other chances in his career, but I was just delighted to get the ride.”

Dettori said he thinks the G1 2000 Guineas winner Kameko (Kitten’s Joy) is his biggest threat in the blue riband.

“Classic form is always the strongest, and Kameko hit the line strong,” he said. “He’s the one who brings class to the party, and the one I fear the most.”

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Dettori Called Up for English King in the Derby

Frankie Dettori has been given the ride aboard G1 Investec Derby favourite English King (Fr) (Camelot {GB}) at Epsom on Saturday week, trainer Ed Walker has confirmed. The son of Camelot stamped himself as a leading contender for the premier Classic with a hugely impressive display in the Listed Lingfield Derby Trial earlier in the month and is now a best priced 7-2, ahead of Andrew Balding’s G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas hero Kameko (Kitten’s Joy) at 5-1. Tom Marquand was on board English King at Lingfield, but is set to be replaced at Epsom by Dettori, who steered the remarkable Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) to a third Gold Cup success at Royal Ascot last week for English King’s owner, Bjorn Nielsen.

Walker told PA, “Frankie is going to ride English King in the Derby. I feel desperately sorry for Tom, and it is absolutely no reflection of our faith and trust in his ability. Bjorn and I mulled it over and watched all the trials, and it became increasingly clear John [Gosden] wasn’t going to have a Derby runner. After Tom won on the horse at Lingfield he asked if he’d keep the ride in the Derby, and I said to him ‘your only danger is Frankie’.

“Frankie obviously has a wealth of big-race experience and raises his game to stratospheric heights for the big races. We feel very privileged to have him on board.”

Stradivarius was one of six Royal Ascot winners for the popular Italian, who will be bidding for a third win in the Derby following his previous triumphs aboard Authorized (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) in 2007 and Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) in 2015.

Walker added, “The Derby is the Derby, and Frankie is Frankie. It’s very tough on Tom–but he has never ridden in a Classic around Epsom before, and I hope he’ll have other big days with us in the future, very possibly on this horse.

“It will be my first runner in the Derby–fingers crossed we get there–and having Frankie Dettori on board will just give me a bit of confidence as well, and obviously Frankie and Bjorn have the connection through Stradivarius. It wasn’t an easy decision. I’m sure it won’t be too long before Tom is jocking people off left, right and centre.”

English King enjoyed a Monday morning workout in Lambourn and is reported to be in fine fettle by his trainer.

“He’s in cracking form–really well in himself. I just hope we can keep him in the same form for the next 12 days,” said Walker. “We haven’t organised when it will happen yet, but Frankie will come and sit on him between now and the Derby.”

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Three Gold Cups For Magnificent Stradivarius

Soft ground? No worries. If anything, it only served to exaggerate the superiority of Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) as Bjorn Nielsen’s chestnut entered immortality with an emphatic third G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. Joining Sagaro (GB) and now only one off Yeats (Ire) with his awe-inspiring tally, the 4-5 favourite tracked the pace in mid-division before Frankie said go coming out of the back straight. Checking behind more than he was looking forward heading to the home turn, Dettori allowed him to saunter to the leader Nayef Road (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) two out and open up for a 10-length victory to mark the occasion. It was another eight lengths back to Cross Counter (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) in third.

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