Johnston has two strong chances of Classic victory in first season
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It would be ironic if, having taken over from his record-breaking father Mark only at the start of the year, Charlie Johnston landed a Betfred Derby or Oaks in his first season, yet he has two strong chances of bringing back one of the Classics.
There is an old racing adage that says “fourth in the Guineas, first in the Derby”. If not fourth, what about fifth? And both Dubai Mile, a 12-1 shot in Saturday’s Derby, and Dance In The Grass, a 22-1 hope in the Oaks on Friday, finished fifth in their respective Guineas.
“The Derby’s been the target for Dubai Mile since the Royal Lodge [in which he was beaten half a length by The Foxes],” Johnston said. “And even more so since he won at Saint-cloud [beating Arrest by a head].
“He’s from the only crop of Roaring Lion, so not guaranteed to stay, but you’d think a horse who won a Group One over a mile and a quarter on heavy at two would get a mile and a half at three.”
Johnston, whose other runner, Dear My Friend, is a 100-1 shot, is pragmatic about Dubai Mile’s odds. “On official ratings he’s 3lb below the best one [Auguste Rodin]. He’s right up there on form. But I can see the records of Aidan O’brien, John Gosden and Charlie Appleby is why their horses are heading the market,” he said.
Dance In The Grass, his Oaks contender, ran an extraordinary race in the Guineas. At halfway she had fallen out the back of the television.
“I was verging on embarrassed,” Johnston said. “But she went from 20th to fifth in the last furlong and a half.
“When she was still 50-1 for the Oaks after that I had a few quid on her. If she steps forward for the distance she could well finish in the frame.”