Charlton's Mystic prediction

Roger Charlton yesterday suggested that the 40-1 about his Derby hope, Mystic Knight, was a price worth taking. "He is listed at 40-1, but he won't be that on the day - more like 25-1 or even shorter," Charlton, who won the 1990 Derby with Quest For Fame, said. Mystic Knight, a son of Caerleon, won the Derby Trial at Lingfield.

"It's a very open Derby," Charlton said. "He seems to get the trip, so I'd say he's got a sporting chance. In Quest For Fame's year there were only two horses that stayed the distance and they finished first and second. There are a lot of horses this year unproven at a mile and a half and some of them will definitely not stay.

"Mystic Knight is the only horse that has won a trial on a similar course and over almost the Derby distance. The winner of the Chester Vase isn't in the race."