Manning & Murphy secure Derby rides Kevin Manning has been confirmed for the Investec Derby ride aboard Sudden Wonder at Epsom on Saturday. The Charlie Appleby-trained colt finished third in the Lingfield Derby Trial and is one of three possible runners for Godolphin along with Appleby's Pinzolo and Saeed bin Suroor's True Story. Appleby told www.godolphin.com: "I am very happy with Sudden Wonder's preparation to date and confident he will put up a big performance in the Investec Derby. "I have spoken to connections and we agreed that we would like Kevin Manning to be on board as his style of riding will suit Sudden Wonder. He is a very positive rider and experienced around Epsom. He partnered New Approach, Sudden Wonder's sire, to victory in the Derby." Appleby has yet to make a decision about Pinzolo's participation and will leave it until later in the week before committing to a run. The trainer said: "Pinzolo is suited by a sound surface so we will keep an eye on the weather, while Sudden Wonder has won on that type of going and soft ground." William Buick will partner Western Hymn in the Derby. The jockey had the choice of the Sandown Classic Trial winner and fellow John Gosden-trained runner Romsdal, who was supplemented on Monday following his narrow defeat by Orchestra in the Chester Vase. However, Buick has opted to stick with Western Hymn, who has won each of his three starts to date and demonstrated his well-being when he worked at Epsom last week. Buick told his At The Races blog: "There's no bigger Flat race in the world than the Derby, so when you are lucky enough to have a choice of rides in the race you don't want to get it wrong. For that reason I've weighed up every factor concerning Western Hymn and Romsdal and decided to go with the proven form of Western Hymn. "This was a very hard decision to make because Romsdal is emerging as a very serious horse which is why he was supplemented on Monday. His run in the Chester Vase was excellent and he would have won that in another stride instead of going down by a nose - and he is on the upgrade. "But I just couldn't desert Western Hymn. He excited me when he won his first race of the season at Newbury and he showed a lot of courage on bad ground at Sandown to win the Classic Trial. A lot has been made of his habit of looking about him, but it's just a characteristic and it's never stopped him going forward. "He went to Epsom last Thursday and showed he can handle the undulations and after I gave him a nice spin over seven and a half furlongs on the Al Bahathri this morning, it made my mind up. I hope I've called it right." Oisin Murphy will have his first Derby ride as Ed Dunlop has booked the apprentice of the moment for Red Galileo. He will warm up for that mount aboard the William Knight-trained course specialist Beacon Lady in the Investec Coronation Cup. Red Galileo had some promising two-year-old form but has been fairly well beaten in the Sandown Classic Trial and Lingfield Derby Trial. "We had a list of possible jockeys and after watching him win the Temple Stakes, the decision was made to book Oisin," said Dunlop.
