Racing analyst Daniel O’Sullivan has Preferment on top of his 2015 Australian Derby tips and he believes that the talented stayer will prove very tough to beat in the Group 1 event at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
Preferment is the horse to beat in the 2015 Australian Derby at Royal Randwick this weekend. Photo by: Steve Hart
Preferment made a slow start to his autumn campaign after winning the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) in the spring, but he returned to his best form with a very close second behind Volkstok’N’Barrell in the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 21.
O’Sullivan told RSN that the Rosehill Guineas performance of Preferment sets him up beautifully for the Group 1 Australian Derby (2500m) and he believes that the Zabeel colt still represents excellent value at his current Australian Derby odds of $3.40.
“I am keen on Preferment and I have him quite a bit shorter at about the $2.90 mark,” O’Sullivan said.
“He made significant improvement last time in that Rosehill Guineas when he was just nutted by Volkstok’N’Barrell and it was the perfect set-up for this Derby here.
“He comes into the race fourth-up and it is the Chris Waller style to get his horses to make that improvement each run and have them ready to peak on the big day.
“We saw in the VRC Derby last year that he was strong at the trip and I think that with that preparation and a break under his belt he is ultimately going to end up a better horse this preparation and even next preparation.
“I think he can reach a new career peak here and him going ahead from that Rosehill Guineas run is going to make him super hard to beat.
“He is going to settle back in the field, but I think that Damien Oliver will be rolling forward at the right time and he is going to be peeling and running on down the right part of the track.”
The best-backed runner in Australian Derby betting markets has been Hauraki and the Godolphin colt is now into $3.50 to record a maiden win at Group 1 level.
O’Sullivan was most impressed with the Tulloch Stakes victory of Hauraki and he believes that the Reset colt is the very danger to Preferment in the Australian Derby this weekend.
“Hauraki was very good winning the Tulloch last week and he had a very strong finish,” O’Sullivan said.
“He looks more than capable of going up to the 2400 metres and he will be settling in a similar position to Preferment and making their runs together.
“He is definitely a live chance.”
Preferment ($3.40) is a narrow favourite in the 2015 Australian Derby betting market with Ladbrokes from Hauraki ($3.50), Volkstok’N’Barrell ($4.60) and Mongolian Khan ($8.50).
