Tregoning Treads A Familiar Path

Marcus Tregoning hopes familiarity does not breed contempt when Aqaleem lines up in the Vodafone Derby on Saturday.

The Kingwood House handler has maintained the same tradition as with last year´s winner Sir Percy by taking his blue-riband hope for a spin at Lingfield.

Aqaleem entered the Derby reckoning after an impressive victory in the Group Three trial and was again partnered by Richard Hills in his exercise.

'Richard met me at Lingfield (on Tuesday morning) and we worked Aqaleem over a mile,' explained Tregoning.

'Richard was very satisfied and the thinking behind it was really that I wanted to see him come down a hill yet again.

'We have had a lot of rain at home and the gallops are so soft they are really unsuitable to work him on.

'We worked him on the Polytrack and it all went terribly well. It is exactly what we did with Sir Percy a year ago.

'Aqaleem is very fit and that was his last proper piece of work.'

Eddie Ahern believes his Derby mount Strategic Prince has a couple of qualities that could test Authorized.

Like the hot favourite´s jockey Frankie Dettori, Ahern is seeking to win the Epsom Classic for the first time. He has just had the two attempts, while Dettori has endured 14 failures.

Ahern would not swap his mount for anything else, however, as he has the utmost faith in Paul Cole´s charge.

'When you are racing against another horse you always try to find his weaknesses. One is that he (Authorized) might not stay and another is that he might not handle the track,' said Ahern.

'I´m sure my horse will stay and he´ll definitely handle the track.

'If you took Authorized out ? he is an excellent horse with two Group Ones under his belt ? the race is opening up.

'On his dam´s side stamina won´t be a problem for my horse. The ground is going to be soft or good to soft, which will probably be like the day he ran in the Dewhurst when he was third.

'He´s probably better on fast ground but he´s gone well on soft ground so it´s fingers crossed,' Ahern told At The Races.

Lucarno is set to take his chance after trotting up at Newmarket on Saturday for his second success in three weeks.

However, connections are still on the lookout for a jockey as Jimmy Fortune, who has partnered the John Gosden-trained colt to both wins, is suspended.

'The horse has done very well and the plan at the moment is to run but we have no news of a jockey yet,' said James Wigan, adviser to owner George Strawbridge.

(C) PA Sport