Bolger strives for more Derby Magic

The Godolphin team fire a twin assault on Saturday's Investec Derby, with Jim Bolger's challenger Moonlight Magic joined by the Andre Fabre-trained French raider Cloth Of Stars.

Moonlight Magic disappointed on his seasonal debut in the Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown, but raised his game to win the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial on his return to Foxrock.

Bolger, who won the Epsom Classic with New Approach in 2008, said: "I rate him as a good Derby prospect and I would not swap him for anything else in the race.

"He has the looks, the demeanour, the balance and temperament to go with his pedigree. He is a beautifully-balanced horse so he should handle Epsom well. He is a very straightforward colt and a lovely horse to work with."

Cloth Of Stars impressed in the Prix Greffulhe on his latest appearance, a race Fabre won with Pour Moi before he claimed Derby glory five years ago.

John Gosden is keeping his fingers crossed the "slightly freakish" Wings Of Desire can complete his rapid ascent in the Derby.

Few had heard of the handsome chestnut prior to his racecourse introduction at Newmarket in early April and while there was plenty of promise in his third-placed finish, it would have been fanciful at that stage to suggest he would emerge as a leading Derby contender.

A routine victory under the Wolverhampton floodlights just 10 days later ticked a box for Gosden, though, and his bold call to throw his charge in at the deep end in the Dante at York proved a masterstroke.

Wings Of Desire won the key trial by a neck to leave connections with little option but to supplement him for a Derby from which he was removed just a couple of months earlier.

Having won major prizes all over the world, including the Derby with Benny The Dip in 1997 and Golden Horn 12 months ago, Gosden has pretty much seen it all. But even he has admitted to being taken aback by Wings Of Desire's double-quick progress.

He said: "In fairness to the horse, he came in as a little round ball. He just started growing and growing. Pivotal isn't known as a sire of two-year-olds, he's from a staying family and his brother didn't run at two.

"He only did his first half-speed on March 15. You'd love to have another run, but he's a big, strapping, strong colt now.

"He is unusual in what he has done - most horses have had education at two either through work or racing. But in this case, he missed it all. So to come from doing your first half-speed, swinging canter in mid-March to winning a Dante in the middle of May is unusual - slightly freakish.

"He's got a gorgeous frame and a good mind on him and he's learning quick. He's a lovely horse, but he's extraordinarily laid-back. He doesn't really bother about anything and his favourite habits are eating and sleeping."