Ancient Egypt finds Epsom to his liking Charlie Johnston is optimistic Ancient Egypt can make his presence felt in the Betfred Derby after seeing his colt traverse the Epsom Downs on Tuesday morning. Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing operation went to 1.1million guineas to secure the Frankel colt at the Tattersalls October Book One sale 19 months ago and he made a decent start at repaying that investment by winning his first two juvenile starts. He failed to fire on his final juvenile appearance in the Royal Lodge, but having got his career back on track in the Newmarket Stakes on his reappearance the Derby dream is very much alive and Johnston was thrilled with how he took to the track during the Surrey circuit’s annual gallops event for Classic hopefuls. “As I said beforehand, we’re not here to find out how good he is that’s for sure, we just felt there was no downside to coming here,” said the Middleham handler. “He came down last night, stayed overnight in the stables, he’s been and had a wander round the paddock and had a nice swing around the track, so we’ve dotted every I and crossed every T in terms of preparation and it was nice for David (Egan) to get a feel for him again in that sort of environment. “For a big horse we were hopeful this track shouldn’t hold too many fears given he came down the dip at Newmarket so well and I was very pleased with what we saw there. He came down the hill nicely, switched leads into Tattenham Corner without having to be told to and went through it all nicely – A1.” Ancient Egypt successfully stepped up to a mile and a quarter at the Guineas meeting and Johnston – who saddled Lazy Griff to finish second to Lambourn in last year’s Derby – believes another two furlongs in the premier Classic may see him an even better light. He continued: “This is the first serious bit of work he’s done since Newmarket. He’d worked pretty hard in the lead-up to that race, so I didn’t feel we needed to do a huge amount with him between then and now. He’s set and ready to go. “I could be wrong, but for me the trip is not a question mark. I think he’ll improve for the distance, I’d be confident of that. The question mark is whether he’s good enough and he’s going to have to improve 10lb to 14lb – he’s going into it rated 5lb lower than Lazy Griff last year. “I think he’ll stay, we’re hopeful he’ll handle the track, he’s a pretty laid-back horse so I think he’ll handle the occasion and the only question mark is whether he’s good enough and we’ll only find that out on the day.” Johnston insists Ancient Egypt’s lofty price tag does not add any extra pressure, adding: “There’s probably a few more eyes on this horse because of what he cost and who owns him. “All of last spring, we have a trotting ring where horses collect after work, and seeing him did make me wonder what it must be like to stand in Ballydoyle in a morning as they all look like that, whereas in my yard he looked like a different breed to the rest! “He doesn’t know what he cost, I’ve got a very good relationship with Kia and if I can deliver him horses to these races and these big days, that’s what he’s in the game for. As long as we keep holding up our end of the bargain, everyone’s happy.” The trainer also houses a serious contender for the Betfred Oaks in 1000 Guineas third Venetian Lace, although he is fearful of the threat posed by Irish Guineas heroine Precise, who could yet make the the trip to Epsom. Johnston said: “Until Sunday I thought our filly had the best form in the race of those that were likely to be there. I saw that (Irish 1000 Guineas) live and that frightened me quite a bit so I would hope she doesn’t come, but it looks like she might now. “Venetian Lace is a bit the other way round compared to Ancient Egypt in that I’ve got no doubt that she’s good enough – she’s been placed twice at Group One level – but with her the trip is an unknown. Both sides of the pedigree would give you confidence and we’re pretty certain that she’ll stay 10 furlongs, whether she’ll stay 12 or not we’ll find out on the day. “I didn’t feeling coming here today would be any benefit to her. She’s quite hard on herself, she’s very generous in her races and her work – when she went to the Craven meeting for a racecourse gallop she lost 22 kilos for the trip, so I didn’t fancy doing that 10 days before the Oaks. “Until Sunday there was nothing in the race that scared me and there is one now, but we’re still very confident.”
