Britain's premier Classic, the Investec Derby run over a mile and a half at Epsom Downs on Saturday, June 1, is now under a month away and a number of valuable clues will be unveiled over the coming weeks with recognised trials taking place in Britain, Ireland and France.
Feel Like Dancing is a 33/1 chance for the Investec Derby with Coral, official betting partner of the Investec Derby Festival, and will test his credentials in either the Group Three MBNA Chester Vase on Thursday, May 9, or the Listed Betfred Derby Trial Stakes at Lingfield on Saturday, May 11.
The son of Galileo, trained in Newmarket by John Gosden, made a successful debut over 11 furlongs at Newbury on April 20, scoring by a nose from Boite, who franked the form by winning next time out. He holds an Investec Derby entry.
Hugo Lascelles, racing manager to Feel Like Dancing's owner Lady Bamford, said: "Feel Like Dancing has come out of his win at Newbury well.
"He will work tomorrow and then we will take him to Chester for the Vase or to Lingfield and then go from there.
"He has a beautiful pedigree and is a half-brother to Indian Ink who was a very good filly. He was big and green at Newbury, but he is a very good looking horse and looked better the further he went.
"It is very early days and it would be premature to say he will run in the Investec Derby but he is a nice horse in the making and if he was to win impressively next time, we would have to think about it."
Five of the 10 entries for this year's MBNA Chester Vase are already entered in the Investec Derby including Mirsaale from the stable of James Tate, who annexed the Investec Derby Trial at Epsom Downs on April 24.
Ireland's champion trainer Aidan O'Brien has won three of the last six renewals of the Chester Vase and could be represented by Nevis, a son of 2008 Investec Oaks runner-up Moonstone, and Ruler Of The World, a half-brother to five-time Group One scorer Duke Of Marmalade.
Luca Cumani, successful twice in the Investec Derby with Kahyasi (1988) and High-Rise (1998) could be represented at Chester by Greatwood, who was narrowly denied on his return to action in the £200,000 Tattersalls Millions 3YO Trophy at Newmarket on April 18.
The first Classic of the season takes place at Newmarket tomorrow, the QIPCO 2000 Guineas (3.50pm). A total of 37 three-year-olds have won both the QIPCO 2000 Guineas and the Investec Derby, mostly recently Camelot in 2012.
Of the 13 runners in this year's QIPCO 2000 Guineas, six also currently hold entries in the Investec Derby. These include the 2012 champion European two-year-old Dawn Approach, trained in Ireland by Jim Bolger, who makes his seasonal return at Newmarket. The son of 2008 Investec Derby hero New Approach was a second entry for the Investec Derby last month.
Richard Hannon's two starters, Toronado and Van Der Neer, also both hold Investec Derby entries, as does the Aidan O'Brien-trained Mars, who was impressive when successful on his only start last year and is currently 6/1 second favourite for the Investec Derby with Coral.
The other two runners in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas with Investec Derby entries are Leitir Mor (Jim Bolger) and Glory Awaits (Kevin Ryan).
Pour Moi, the last French-trained winner of the Investec Derby for Andre Fabre in 2011, warmed up for Epsom with victory in the Group Two Prix Greffulhe at Saint-Cloud.
This year's renewal of the 10-furlong contest takes place tomorrow (5.55pm UK time) and three of the five runners hold Investec Derby entries. They are headed by the Fabre-trained Ocovango who has been successful on both his starts, most recently recording a smooth victory in the Listed Prix Francois Mathet at Saint-Cloud on March 31. Bravodino (Jonathan Pease) was runner-up to Ocovango last season and won a conditions event at Saint-Cloud on April 3, while the German-trained Superplex (Michael Figge) also made a winning reappearance, taking a 10-furlong conditions race at Longchamp on April 18.
Coral's 5/1 favourite for the Investec Derby is the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Telescope, who is expected to make his seasonal debut at York on May 16 in the Betfred Dante Stakes.
