Leicester City’s owners could start dreaming of a famous Derby win on Thursday - just not on the football field.
For while the Srivaddhanaprabha family’s 2015-16 Premier League champions are in a relegation scrap, their horse racing stable King Power Racing unearthed a live contender for the Betfred Derby..
Their horse The Foxes, the nickname of the East Midlands club, battled his way to victory in the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante Stakes at York, the richest trial in the calendar for the Epsom Classic.
As a result he was promoted to 10-1 by William Hill in the betting to win the historic race. In contrast Leicester City are 1-8 to go down to the Championship.
Under Oisin Murphy, the Andrew Balding-trained The Foxes, who originally cost 440,000gns, held off White Birch to win by a neck with Passenger filling third place.
Balding said: “He did a bit of meandering across the track. He’s a very good horse, it looked a deep Dante today.
“He’s very professional, he was the most beautiful yearling and he’s been a star to train so far.
“You’d have to think Epsom is the next step as long as you take the usual caveats into account, it comes close enough for example, but if he comes out of it well I think we’d have to give it a go.
“The way he’s hit the line there he’d give himself every chance of getting the trip, it didn’t look like he was stopping at the end there to me.
“I think the main thing is he’d give himself every chance of staying because of his demeanour.”
Balding would not be winning the premier Classic out of turn should The Foxes prevail, after recent near-misses with Khalifa Sat and Hoo Ya Mal.
He added: “We’ve gone close in the Derby a few times, but I think he’d be the best chance we’ve had going there as both Hoo Ya Mal (runner-up last year) and Khalifa Sat (second in 2020) were big prices.
“His half-brother Bangkok went there well fancied after winning this, but he ran poorly. We always thought he’d stay, but he was a real 10-furlong horse.
“I think he’ll stay as his dam got a mile and a half well.”
Murphy said: ““I hope he’s a good Derby ride, he relaxes, he’s a beautiful mover and hopefully he’ll stay.
“He gives himself a chance of staying, but he is a fast horse. It’s exciting.”
