Sir John Lavery takes Derby Trial plunge Aidan O'Brien has dominated the Classic picture over the last seven days and he unleashes yet another top-class prospect as Sir John Lavery tackles the Betfred Derby Trial at Lingfield. Churchill currently heads the Investec Derby market following his 2000 Guineas success, but O'Brien houses no less than six of the leading 10 contenders in the betting. Sir John Lavery is a general 14-1 shot for Epsom glory on June 3, but his odds would surely contract again if he were to claim to a fifth win in the race for O'Brien, following on from Alessandro Volta (2008), Age Of Aquarius (2009), Nevis (2013) and Kilimanjaro (2015). The Galileo colt won one of his two starts last term, strolling home by seven lengths in a Gowran maiden last October, and O'Brien believes Sir John Lavery has a touch of quality. He said: "He's only just ready to start back, but he looked very exciting last season. "He'd had a few little hold-ups in the spring which is why he's been aimed at the later trials. "He works like very classy horse at home so we'll see how he does. "He'll come on for the run a fair bit, but then he'll have to." Godolphin will be double-handed with the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Best Solution, winner of the Autumn Stakes, joined by Charlie Appleby's Zamfir, who landed a Leicester maiden on his only start to date. Zamfir won over a mile that day but Appleby believes the step up to an extended 11 furlongs will be a positive. He said: "He won nicely at Leicester and we've been very happy with him since. "It is a big step up for him, but he came out of that race well and I think the step up in trip could eke out a bit of improvement. "We'll have a better idea of where we stand after Saturday." Best Solution has to shoulder a 5lb penalty for his Group Three success last year, with Mark Johnston's Frankuus also carrying the extra weight after winning a French Group Three. Johnston also fields Sofia's Rock, a 10-length winner of a Leicester handicap and full-brother to dual Group One winner Prince Gibraltar. John Gosden has two contenders in Tartini and Glencadam Glory, while Ed Dunlop's Apex King completes the eight-strong line-up.
