Epsom sighter for Wings Of Desire John Gosden is looking forward to seeing how leading Investec Derby contender Wings Of Desire adapts to the demands of Epsom at the Breakfast With The Stars morning next Tuesday. Having failed to make the racecourse as a juvenile, the son of Pivotal has made remarkably rapid progress in recent weeks. A promising debut effort at Newmarket's Craven meeting suggested the future was bright, but even a trainer of Gosden's huge experience admitted to being taken aback by his subsequent development. A routine victory under the lights at Wolverhampton was followed by a Dante victory at York that confirmed his position as Britain's leading hope for the main event on the first Saturday of June. Gosden took last year's Derby hero Golden Horn to the famous Downs for a sighter prior to his brilliant victory and is keen to do the same with his latest potential star. Speaking at an Investec-sponsored media event, the trainer said: "We'll go to the morning at Epsom and I've already got the work instructions from the trainer, Frankie Dettori! "I'll let you know how he handles the track afterwards. If he gets on the wrong lead and winds up in the fairgrounds we're in trouble!" With Gosden having decided to take his immature colt out of the Epsom showpiece in early March with a view to instead aiming at the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, connections must now stump up £75,000 to supplement him. "I thought we'd take him out of the Derby on March 7 and go straight for the King Edward. I think it's still a very good idea, alas I've been made a fool of," said Gosden. "It's very exciting. The conservative thing to do would be to go for the King Edward and if he'd finished third in the Dante, that's probably what we'd have done. "But he wins the Dante, and if you win the Dante you go for the Derby. The owners are very clear what they want. "He's earned the money and now we're giving it back again. "He's every inch a mile-and-a-half horse. That will be his best trip and I probably won't bring him back to a mile and a quarter again. "If things go well you'd probably put him away for a King George or something like that. He's a proper mile-and-a-half horse, like his brother (Eagle Top), but he's a more masculine version." Wings Of Desire is a general 4-1 shot in a Derby market that lacks clarity due to the potential inclusion of top-class filly Minding. Gosden has not hidden his admiration of Aidan O'Brien's stunning 1000 Guineas heroine, but with connections having strengthened their hand following The Gurkha's French 2000 Guineas romp on Sunday, he expects the Ballydoyle camp to take the more logical option of keeping Minding against her own sex in the Investec Oaks. The beautifully-bred Galileo filly is odds-on across the board for Classic glory following the news Gosden's Musidora scorer So Mi Dar would miss the race through injury. Gosden said: "They've got a lot of cards to play. Why would you need to run Minding there when she can run in an Oaks? "US Army Ranger and the horse that was second to him (Port Douglas) at Chester are good horses, I think Deauville is a good horse and I was in Deauville and The Gurkha was impressive. "I've got to be honest, I think he (The Gurkha) beat Group Three horses in France. A horse of my wife's (Crazy Horse) was beaten a length for second. "But he totally showed he's a Group One horse, so he's exciting if he runs in the Derby. Who knows, he could run in the St James's Palace. "I expect Aidan to turn up with about six colts at least (at Epsom) and I expect Minding to remain in the Oaks." Wings Of Desire could yet be joined in the Derby by stable companion Linguistic. The Godolphin-owned youngster, who was narrowly denied in the Dee Stakes at Chester, could aim to book his place at Epsom in either the Cocked Hat Stakes at Goodwood on Friday or the Fairway Stakes at Newmarket 24 hours later. "He might run in either the Fairway or at Goodwood and he could still be supplemented for the Derby, depending on weather forecasts," Gosden added.
