Winston Bullish Ahead Of Derby

Robert Winston gets the chance to cement his place as one of the best jockeys around tomorrow when he takes the mount on Papal Bull in the Vodafone Derby.

The young rider was going great guns in the jockeys' title race last year only to suffer a season-ending fall at Ayr in August.

But he has come back better than ever this term and is excited at the prospect of partnering the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Chester Vase winner after he was supplemented to the tune of #75,000.

'I'm really looking forward to it and I've picked up a good spare ride. The horse has gone from strength to strength and has really improved,' he said.

'He's in great form at home but you need a lot of luck in the race. He's a lazy horse.

'Kieren (Fallon) always had him in touch (at Chester) and he was the class horse. Chester is a tight track and you don't come from far behind there, so he did it well to be able to pick them off.

'He's a different horse when he gets to the track and I'm expecting a big run from him.

'It looks a wide-open race, hopefully we'll get a true gallop and a bit of luck in running.

'Visindar is the obvious one (danger), and you've got the talking horse of Aidan O'Brien's, Horatio Nelson, the clear-cut Dante winner in Septimus, and Sir Michael's other horse, Best Alibi, if the ground dries out, he is a very nice horse. The ground wasn't right for him at York. It's a wide-open race.'

Winston is also hoping to get some words of wisdom from Derby legend Lester Piggott.

'I hope so. Hopefully Sir Michael will have a word with him for me and it would be nice if he could go through a couple of races with me,' he told Racing UK.

'He's a legend around there and every bit of advice is helpful. He knows the track inside and out.'

(C) PA Sport