Focus on Telescope for Derby is blurred by injury

His Derby plans for this year have also been dealt a serious blow after the highly-regarded Telescope was ruled out of tomorrow’s Betfred Dante Stakes following a knock to a pastern while being loaded onto a horsebox.

The next 48 hours will be crucial in determining whether the son of the great Derby winner Galileo, has any chance of making it to Epsom on June 1.

The colt’s owners, part of a Highclere syndicate, include the outgoing Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

“Telescope suffered grazing on his left front and hind legs when he went for a trip on the horse box,” said an exasperated Stoute.

“It has blown up a little bit which leaves us a little tight time-wise for Thursday. Regarding the Derby, we will know more in the next 48 hours, but we may take him for an away workout next week.”

The cricket-loving former champion trainer – who has also been battling ill health – is therefore pinning his York hopes on Liber Nauticus in the Tattersalls Musidora Stakes, the day one highlight of the Dante meeting.

Liber Nauticus, who is from a regal family of owner-breeders Ballymacoll Stud, has only raced once so far when showing a huge amount of promise in a Goodwood maiden last September.

Strongly supported in the ante-post betting for the Epsom Oaks on May 31, she has only been knocked off the top of the market by the good recent performances by Moth and Secret Gesture.

The Musidora, though, is often the strongest Oaks trial – the third of English racing’s five Classics – and has been won by Stoute seven times since 1977, including with Ballymacoll’s top-class filly Islington.

“She is only a maiden winner but this looks the obvious place to go and we’ll see what happens,” said Ballymacoll’s managing director Peter Reynolds.

“She has Oaks, Irish Oaks and Ribblesdale entries and we’ll see how she gets on.”

Arriving with a similar profile and a staying pedigree is the John Gosden-trained Woodland Aria, the mount of stable jockey William Buick.

The daughter of Singspiel won her only start to date, in a maiden at Wolverhampton last month.

The form is solid – the Stoute-trained Elik, who was runner-up in this contest, was fourth in last week’s Cheshire Oaks.

“Woodland Aria has done nothing wrong,” said Gosden who won this contest 12 months ago with The Fugue, who was then a luckless third in the Oaks.

“It is a big step up in class but she won her maiden nicely and this is a good race. It is important to support these races.”

Romantic Settings showed progress from her Haydock maiden victory aged two by beating King Of The Danes in a Musselburgh handicap just a few days ago.

Trainer Richard Fahey is realistic about this jump in class and the Malton handler said: “It will be interesting, but she has got to step right up on what she has done. Before she won the other day, she wasn’t working that well, so it’s hard to get a line on her. But the second came out and won at Ascot.”

David Brown sends Hollowina out again after she was a slightly unlucky-looking fifth in the Cheshire Oaks, while Mark Johnston’s Discernable reverts to female-only company after two respectable efforts in competitive events at Newmarket.

Peter Chapple-Hyam still has Indigo Lady engaged at Epsom. A winner of a minor event at Yarmouth last summer, she went on to run third to the useful Peace Burg in a Group Three at Chantilly.

In the shock absence of Telescope, Highclere will rely solely on the Luca Cumani-trained Greatwood in tomorrow’s Dante.

He missed last weekend’s Lingfield Derby Trial due to rain-softened ground and will be partnered by a resurgent Kieren Fallon, who ironically completed the Dante-Derby double on the Stoute-trained North Light in 2004 for the Ballymacoll Stud.

The eight-strong field is headed by Indian Chief as Aidan O’Brien looks to continue his monopoly of this year’s Derby trials on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Saeed bin Suroor seeks a third Dante success with Secret Number, who lost his unbeaten record when third to O’Brien’s Lines Of Battle in the UAE Derby.

Mark Johnston’s Windhoek has already run twice this season, picking up a valuable sales prize at Newmarket – where he edged Greatwood – and following up on the Rowley Mile in a Listed event.

Ghurair for the Gosden yard further represents that sales race at Newmarket as he was third that day, while Jim Bolger runs an interesting contender in Trading Leather, last seen finishing fifth in the Racing Post Trophy to Kingsbarns. David Elsworth’s Dashing Star and the Elaine Burke-trained Libertarian complete the line-up.

Yet Stoute should draw this comfort from his training travails: his Newmarket neighbour Sir Henry Cecil overcame far greater adversity before bouncing back with a horse called Frankel.