English King slashed from 66-1 to become Derby favourite after impressive Lingfield triumph

The ante-post market for the Investec Derby has been pretty non-existent this year but it exploded into life on Friday when English King, trained by Ed Walker, won the Lingfield Derby Trial under an almost motionless Tom Marquand.

The colt, owned by Bjorn Nielsen, looked very at home at Lingfield, which boasts a similar topography to Epsom and won by two-and-three-quarter lengths from the other joint-favourite, Berkshire Rocco, in the smoothest fashion. There were seven lengths back to the third.

A 66-1 shot for Epsom with Ladbrokes in the morning, the bookmaker shortened him to 14-1 after the race but, after an avalanche of money, cut him again to 6-1 joint-favourite, the same price as Pinatubo, a few minutes later.

“Bjorn has been trying to win the Derby since he was eight,” said Walker who is also the owner’s tenant at Kingsdown Stables in Lambourn.

“He was brought up in Epsom and it’s been a big focal point in his life. Everything he breeds or buys is all about the Derby. He always jokes tongue in cheek that his St Leger (Masked Marvel) and Gold Cup (Stradivarius) winners were his Derby failures.

“He bought this horse from a very good family. He’s a gorgeous horse. You wouldn’t know how good he is he’s so laid back. We’ll just try and keep him safe and sound and in shape for Epsom now.”

At Newmarket, the front-running Ghaiyyath gave the connections of Pinatubo a timely boost ahead of Saturday’s 2,000 Guineas when he galloped his rivals into the ground to win the Hurworth Bloodstock Coronation Cup, the first Group One of the season.

The Godolphin horse had the field strung out after a couple of furlongs and though Stradivarius went after him going into the Dip, it was last year’s Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck who emerged to throw down a bigger threat inside the last furlong. But Ghaiyyath was not for catching and won by two-and-a-half lengths.

William Buick, his jockey, said: “That was very impressive. He’s done that before, he’s an explosive horse who can maintain a gallop. He has a phenomenal cruising speed which is very rare for a horse which stays. I don’t think I’ve ridden a horse that has that sort of speed mid-race.”

Meanwhile, the former amateur rider and Lambourn trainer Ben Leigh has died aged 77. He was taken ill on a holiday in India in February and never recovered.