Eye Of The Storm can provide Epsom Derby clue at Sandown

Mirsaale may have landed the Investec Derby Trial at Epsom, but Sandown’s Bet365 Classic Trial may well prove the better guide to the June Classic.

Eye Of The Storm is our selection for the trial and we have also had a stab at picking the three other winners of the races to be aired on Channel 4.

13:40 – Barracuda Boy @ 11/2

A return to 5f should be ideal for Barracuda Boy, who has never been out of the first three in his four previous runs over the trip, with the only doubt being that he has not been seen since August.

Smoothtalkinrascal looks a worthy favourite and his prospects were bolstered by the victory of Zanetto in a valuable recent sprint at Newmarket as he had previously beaten Andrew Balding’s three-year-old by a head at Leicester.

Of the each-way contenders, Secret Missile stayed on strongly last time and has been dropped 1lb by the handicapper for the eye-catching performance. He could run into the places late on.

14:10 – Haafaguinea @ 5/1

Fehaydi has to be respected off this mark of 88 as he finished very close to the 110-rated Ghurair recently off level weights. He is due to go up too in the near future, so is potentially well-in here.

However, there is enough doubt over this shorter trip of 1m and how much a busy month has taken out of him to suggest that he can be swerved as a 2/1 favourite.

While he drops in distance, many of his rivals are moving in the other direction and the one to make the most appeal is Haafaguinea, especially after a promising run at Doncaster at the latter end of last season behind The Gold Cheongsam.

14:45 – Trumpet Major @ 11/4

Trumpet Major is certainly a bit of an enigma, mixing some absolute shockers last season with a victory in the Craven Stakes and a fine fourth in the 2,000 Guineas.

If he repeats any of these performances, he should make light work of this Group Two.

The drop in trip to 1m may count against Farraaj and so Stand My Ground looks the best option to fill the forecast, after a solid run on his debut for a new yard at Doncaster earlier this month having been bought from France.

15:15 – Eye Of The Storm @ 3/1

The majority of these hold Derby entries and many of the big yards are represented so this could prove a useful trial for Epsom.

On current form Fantastic Moon and Al Waab bring the best results to the table, but it is Aidan O’Brien’s Eye Of The Storm that may have developed the most over the winter.

This step up to 1m2f should suit and he must prove far better than when third at Newmarket last season, when everything went wrong but he still rallied to take third late on.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.