Epsom holds no fear for Permian and Johnston after Dante Stakes triumph
YORKSHIRE’S seven-decade wait for a Derby winner could be about to end.
Middleham trainer Mark Johnston’s Permian will be supplemented for Flat racing’s signature contest after winning York’s Dante Stakes.
Ridden with confidence by the veteran Franny Norton, Permian tenaciously outfought Benbatl in a thrilling finish to a race that celebrates 1945 Derby winner Dante – the last Yorkshire winner of the iconic race.
“I’m delighted to have a live chance in the Derby,” said Johnston of the Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum-owned winner.
“I wasn’t thinking of the Derby a few weeks ago, but you could see from two out today he was going to win.
“Epsom obviously holds no fears for us and I can’t remember my last Derby runner.”
This year’s Epsom Derby remains wide open following the trials – the standout horse, Aidan O’Brien’s 2000 Guineas hero Churchill, is still not a confirmed runner amid doubts about his stamina.
Yet the mile-and-a-half trip will play to the strengths of Permian who relished the fast pace on York’s rain softened ground and was still full of running as he flashed past the post.
The horse was only narrowly defeated at Epsom last month by John Gosden’s highly-rated Guardsman who was withdrawn from the Dante because of the unsuitably testing ground.
The last Yorkshire winner of the Dante to run in the Derby was Karl and Elaine Burke’s Libertarian who won the York trial in 2013 before finishing second at Epsom.