Oxx looking forward to Ebanoran run John Oxx is looking forward to stepping Ebanoran up in trip in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial at Leopardstown on Sunday. The Oasis Dream colt made a winning debut over seven furlongs at the Curragh last October and ran creditably on his return to action over a mile in the Leopardstown 2,000 Guineas Trial at the end of March. He tackles a mile and a quarter for this first time in this weekend's Group Three test, and Oxx believes the distance will bring out the best in his youngster. "I think the trip should be a help as he was staying on well at the end of a mile in the Guineas Trial and there is a lot of stamina on his dam's side," said the trainer. "I don't think he'll mind the ground whatever it's like on Sunday and we're looking forward to seeing how he goes. "He has plenty of good entries. Whether he'll take any of them up is another thing, we'll just have to wait and see. "It looks a very hot race, as usual. This is always the best of the Derby trials in Ireland and apart from a horse like Australia, who ran in the Guineas, all the good ones tend to run in this race." Altruistic showed quality form as a juvenile, most recently finishing third behind Kingston Hill in October's Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster. After hanging up his riding boots to concentrate on his training career this year, Johnny Murtagh will be hoping this three-year-old can be his flag bearer and Richard Hughes looks an interesting jockey booking. Murtagh said: "He's fit and well and ready to go and we're very excited about getting him started for the year. "His preparation has been good. We missed the Ballysax, but we've had this race in mind for a while and we're very happy with him. "It's a tough race and we'll know a lot more about where we're going with him after Sunday, that's for sure. "He ran on very soft ground at Doncaster, but I always thought he'd be a better horse on fast ground. "He's a typical (son of) Galileo." Aidan O'Brien's Geoffrey Chaucer and Jim Bolger's Answered add further strength in depth while Dermot Weld's Fascinating Rock has created a big impression in winning a maiden and the Ballysax Stakes already this season
