Boom Justify colt Ruling Court would have been resting easy in his box after the running of the Group II Dante Stakes (1m 2 ½ f at York overnight with race favourite The Lion in Winter beaten comfortably in this key lead up race for the Group I Epsom Derby on June 7.
The Coolmore juggernaut have been blazing a trail through Classic lead up races in the UK and Ireland in recent weeks, but it came to a halt when the highly rated Sea the Stars colt lost his unbeaten tag with an underwhelming return.
Last seen beating Ruling Court in the Group III Acomb Stakes (7f) at York back in August, The Lion in Winter did plenty wrong getting worked up before the race and was unsettled in the run before fading.
Victory went to the Ralph Beckett trained New Bay colt Pride of Arras, who won a maiden at Sandown last August in his only previous race and sprung a big surprise here winning by a length and a quarter for Rossa Ryan to put himself in the Derby picture.
Ralph Beckett was delighted with the win, but quick to downplay any comparison with past stable stars.
“He is not Westover, he's not Bluestocking. He does have a very good back pedigree but he doesn't have perhaps the profile of those when it comes to pedigree, but he has more speed than Westover did and he's a better workhorse,” said Beckett.
“It's all in front of us, I hope. If he handles Epsom, which I think he will, and he handles the jamboree, which based on today I think he will, we've every right to think he's going there to be competitive. What happens after that, who knows?”
A homebred for David Akroyd, Pride of Arras is the 21st stakes-winner for Dubawi stallion New Bay and is the best of four winners from Parnell’s Dream, a winning half-sister by Oasis Dream to stakes-winner Kissable, the dam of Group I winner Loving Dream.
There are loads of high class stayers in this family that include St Leger winner Brian Boru, Champion 3YO Colt Workforce, who won an Epsom Derby and an Arc, as well as Caulfield Cup winner Best Solution.
