York Racecourse

Meehan confident ahead of Crowded House's totesport.com Dante bid.

Connections of Crowded House report the current Derby favourite to be in top form ahead of the totesport.com Dante Stakes at York on Thursday May 14th.
 
The three-year-old colt, so impressive when winning the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster in October, misses the 2,000 Guineas and heads for the mile-and-a-quarter £150,000 Group 2 race instead.
 
Trainer Brian Meehan said this morning: “He will go to the Dante and we are very confident and relaxed with him.

“It’s very easy to be confident with Crowded House as he’s a Group 1 winner; not that the Dante is a Group 1 race, but it will contain Group 1 horses.

“I’m looking forward to getting him back on the track, but it will be a bit like Delegator (winner of last week’s Craven Stakes), in that I will be looking to get the trial over - and won.

“It will probably be just maintenance work between now and the Dante, although there may be one big piece of work to make sure he’s not too stuffy -we will have to play it by ear.”

Meanwhile, the unbeaten Redwood, the impressive winner of the Feilden Stakes, is also likely to put his Epsom Derby credentials on the line in the totesport.com Dante Stakes.

The Barry Hills-trained son of High Chaparral was an impressive two-length winner of the Listed Newmarket race last week and connections are keen to now see if he can cut it in loftier company at York.

Charlie Hills, assistant to his father, said this morning: “He’s taken the race well and the Dante is top of the list at the moment.

“It was a really professional performance at Newmarket as it was only his second run.

“We were really pleased with the way he quickened up and galloped all the way to the line. He will improve a lot for that run and hopefully there’s plenty to look forward to with him.”

The totesport.com Dante is the centrepiece of York’s three-day Dante Festival and is renowned for being a top-class assignment for Epsom-bound colts and North Light (2004), Motivator (2005) and Authorized (2007) have all landed it in recent years ahead of the world’s most famous Classic. 

The festival commences on Wednesday 13th May with the Tattersalls Musidora, a recognised Epsom Oaks trial, and culminates with the Group 2 Emirates Airline Yorkshire Cup on the Friday.

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