Bandari demolishes Lingfield Derby field

Bandari trained by Mark Johnson and ridden by Kevin Darley stormed away with the Lingfield Derby trial as he beat Long Goodbye in second and Wahchi back in third. The colt stamped his claims for the Derby at Epsom in June after winning by a record margin of 13 lengths.

For trainer Mark Johnston it was his third Derby trial success this season after Fight Your Corner and Simian were impressive winners already this campaign. But the three-year-old son of Alhaarth may have not done enough to earn a place in the starting line-up next month.

The entry system for the blue riband of flat racing would mean having not been entered at either of the first two stages, Bandari's Owner Abdullah Al-Rostamani, would be required to supplement the horse at a cost of £90,000 to secure a spot in the race.

"This horse cost 44,000 guineas. It breaks my heart to say it because I am a fan of the Derby but I don't see why the owner should have to pay more than twice the purchase price to run at Epsom", said trainer Mark Johnston. "You can talk until the cows come home about this but £600,000 is a pittance for first prize, you can win more than that on a game show these days. The structure of the entry system has nothing to do with having the best horses, it is just using owners to boost the prize-money", added the Yorkshire handler.

Meanwhile in the Oaks trial on the same card at Lingfield, Richard Quinn followed up his win of 12 months ago when booting home 16-1 outsider Birdie for trainer Michael Bell. The winner contested the lead throughout the final two furlongs but looked in trouble when 6/4 favourite Barzah edged ahead in the final furlong.

However the Scotsman dug deep to drive Birdie up on the line to seal a surprise half-length victory in the Listed prize. The race in recent years has produced three from ten Vodafone Oaks winners but the filly is not entered at Epsom. "We were going to go to Chester but I thought the ground would just be on the fast side for her" said winning trainer Michael Bell.

Filed by James Shortt