Dubai: Owen Burrows, who already has a legitimate Epsom Derby contender in English 2,000 Guineas runner-up Massaat, bids to double his options for Britain’s premier Classic when he sends Muntazah to contest Thursday’s Group 2 Dante Stakes at York.
Both horses are owned by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, who late last season appointed Burrows as his retained trainer at Kingwood House Stables.
Burrows will be looking back to 1994 for inspiration as Shaikh Hamdan’s Erhaab used the Dante as the launch-pad to success in the Epsom showpiece, which takes place on June 4.
A Shadwell-bred son of Dubawi, Muntazah makes his seasonal debut since chasing home Foundation and Deauville when third in the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket last September.
Burrows said: “We have been pleased with Muntazah. He is working nicely and hopefully York will stay dry because we have been waiting for the faster ground for him.
“Being such a big horse, I think what we saw last year was a bonus. He was unlucky not to win first time out and on his second run he got stuck in the ground a little bit.
“He won nicely at Leicester and I thought he ran a solid enough race in the Royal Lodge,” the Englishman added.
“From past experiences, the Dante has always been the best of the trials and, although it will be tough, we should learn on Thursday where we go for the rest of the season.”
Muntazah is a 20/1 chance behind favourite Midterm for the Dante and a 66/1 shot for the Derby with British firm Coral.
Shaikh Hamdan’s retained jockey Paul Hanagan will partner Muntazah who takes on 11 rivals headed by Midterm, winner of last month’s Group 3 Classic Trial at Sandown.
The strong field also features last year’s Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes winner Foundation, Aidan O’Brien’s Deauville, a Group 3 winner in 2015 and the John Gosden-trained Wings of Desire.
Seven among the 12 declared runners for the Dante are entered in the Derby, where Midterm is the 11/4 ante-post favourite who is trained by two-time Derby-winning handler Sir Michael Stoute,
Latest Odds
Epsom Derby
11/4 Midterm; 9/2 US Army Ranger; 10/1 Moonlight Magic; 12/1 Cloth Of Stars (Needs Supplementing); 14/1 Massaat; 16/1 Foundation, Idaho, The Gurkha; 20/1 Port Douglas, Zarak, Royal Artillery, Harzand; 25/1 San Francisco, Johannes Vermeer, Shogun, Marcel, Carntop, Algometer, Humphrey Bogart (Needs Supplementing); 33/1 Deauville, Emotionless, Embiran, Aasheq, Blue de Vega, Claudio Monteverdi, Ezanak; 40/1 BAR
— Source: Coral