Hans Holbein produces Classic study in Vase to enter the Derby picture

O'Brien positive about display after high-profile reverses

Hans Holbein (right) copes well with the softened ground in the Chester Vase under Ryan Moore on Thursday (PA)

Hans Holbein jumped a few places up the Ballydoyle ladder when winning the Chester Vase yesterday and the way things are going he may even become the stable’s No 1 Derby contender.

He produced an efficient, rather than spectacular, display to beat Storm The Stars by a length and three-quarters, but the Derby betting market is so sensitive at the moment that any half-decent performance in a trial was always likely to shake things up and, sure enough, Hans Holbein’s odds came tumbling down from a pre-race 40-1.

Even so, typical of the general confusion over the Epsom Classic, bookmakers were at a loss to know what to make of it. One firm with an itchy trigger finger slashed the Montjeu colt to 10-1, while another was happy to lay 25-1.

Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore, continuing their wonderful run this past week, took the positive view; this was the trainer’s sixth Chester Vase win in the past nine seasons and he was quick to confirm Hans Holbein would attempt to follow in the footsteps of Ruler Of The World, who won the Vase and the Derby in 2013.

Kevin Buckley, Coolmore’s UK representative, said: “That was textbook stuff. Ryan liked his attitude and said he saw the trip out really well – he even had trouble pulling him up. We’re all happy with that and Aidan just said on the phone that it definitely puts him in the Derby picture.”

Moore added: “He’s quite laid-back, but finds a little bit when you ask him. The form doesn’t amount to much, but he can only improve and he’ll be better over further as well.”

With the long odds-on defeats of John F Kennedy and Sir Isaac Newton and the poor showing of Ol’ Man River in last Saturday’s 2,000 Guineas, it has hardly been all plain sailing for Ballydoyle’s Derby contenders.

But there are still a few bullets to fire before the big day, including Highland Reel, who goes first for the French version of the 2,000 Guineas at Longchamp on Sunday. Time is getting tight, though, for a Derby prep run for Giovanni Canaletto, ruled out of the Chester Vase after scoping badly.

O’Brien has been as dominant in the Dee Stakes in recent years as in most Classic trials; a victory for Smuggler’s Cove this afternoon would be his fourth in a row.

But the Irish trainer is a mere beginner compared with Barry Hills, who saddled the first of his 11 Dee Stakes winners back in 1970.

The Lambourn veteran has probably not finished yet. Nafaqa’s Group race juvenile form reads every bit as well as Smuggler’s Cove’s and there was a little more encouragement to be had out of the former’s comeback effort when second in the Craven Stakes at Newmarket last month than there was out of his rival’s so-so return at the Curragh.

The ground, softened further yesterday morning by heavy showers, is a little concerning and the trainer said he would need to confirm the colt’s participation with owner Hamdan al-Maktoum. “If he doesn’t run here, he’ll run in the Dante next week,” said Hills. “He’s got to run somewhere before Epsom.”

A decisive win for Nafaqa would also bring him into Derby calculations – Smuggler’s Cove does not hold an entry – and the same can be said of Sir Michael Stoute’s Disegno, who needs to step up on the form he has shown so far, but might well do with headgear applied for the first time. Stoute’s Kris Kin was the last colt to complete the Dee Stakes-Derby double in 2003.