De Bruyne Horse team mull bypassing Epsom

Connections of De Bruyne Horse may resist the temptation of running him at Epsom's Investec Derby Festival in favour of waiting for Royal Ascot.

The son of Showcasing booked himself a step up in class when reversing the form with his Newmarket conqueror Way Of Wisdom in emphatic fashion at Ripon last Sunday.

Plans had been in place to give the Richard Hannon-trained two-year-old a crack at the Woodcote Stakes, but that could now be shelved with the Coventry Stakes emerging as the preferred target.

Tom Palin, spokesman for owners Middleham Park Racing, said: "Obviously the Godolphin favourite in the race at Ripon (Way Of Wisdom) did it nicely on his debut, but we were hopeful of being competitive as it is hard for them to win with a penalty.

"He has definitely come on for his first run and most of Richard Hannon's horses are improving from day one to day two.

"We have always liked him, but the trip just caught him out a bit on his debut and the six was always going to be better for him. On this performance there is a possibility he is going to get seven going forward, but I think six is fine for now.

"We thought he would be a Woodcote horse and that is something on the agenda, but we did speak to Richard Hannon after the race and he said we might want to take a pull and wait for the Royal meeting as he could be our Coventry horse."

A trip to the Royal meeting is next on the agenda for the Richard Fahey-trained Simmy's Copshop, who backed up his debut victory at Nottingham with a creditable third in a Listed event won by Joseph O'Brien's True Blue Moon at Naas last Sunday.

Palin said: "I don't think I am exaggerating, but I think he has some of the strongest two-year-old form in England.

"Karl Burke thinks a lot of his horse (Havana Grey, second at Nottingham) who has since won at Ayr and the fifth (Neola) finished second in the Marygate last week.

"On Sunday I think three of us got caught in a bit of a speed battle up front. He was the only one of the three to stick with the pace and he stayed on nicely enough to be beaten a length and a quarter. I think he is better than the raw result.

"He will have both a Norfolk Stakes and Windsor Castle entry. I am not sure he will go again (before Ascot). There is the Brian Yeardley at Beverley, but that might just be a bit too soon to have that as a third start."