3 minute read

Martin Lane rode 16/1 chance Desert Law to take the Investec Corporate Banking 'Dash' by a length from 12/1 shot Monsieur Joe. Both horses are trained by Paul Midgley.

Lane said: "If truth be told, I did everything wrong. Paul said sit handy with loads of cover and half-way back in the middle of the track but he Desert Law was hanging left quite badly down the camber. He was the best horse on the day and he has done it really nicely.

"It's like all of these sprinters - they take each other on every week and there is a different result. Paul really fancied him today and his only main doubt was the drawn as being drawn one isn't ideal, going on the history.

"As soon as I got after him I knew he'd get there; staying there was the thing, obviously that last half-furlong is quite stiff, but he's done it really well.

"This is what it is all about, winners on the big day. It makes doing 8st 5lb a hell of a lot better."

Lane commented on the nature of the race, which is a downhill five furlongs, the fastest in the world. He said: "Looking down the track from the start, it doesn't really make sense what you've got to do, but it is great fun when you are on a straightforward one."

Four-year-old Boom The Groom may be a baby among sprint handicappers, but he is shaping up into a useful performer.

Wearing a first-time tongue tie he finished strongly to finish third in the Investec Corporate Banking "Dash" behind winner Desert Law and second-placed Monsieur Joe.

Boom The Groom's trainer, Tony Carroll, also ran Caspian Prince, who took the race 12 months ago, but today could finish only seventeenth of the 20 runners.

Carroll said of Boom The Groom: "He's run really well and has put up a personal best performance. I'm very pleased with him and he's a really nice little horse.

"He has progressed all winter [on all-weather surfaces] and at Newbury last time out they broke the track record when he was fifth, so he's still progressing.

"Turf's no problem for him, but we ran him on the all-weather because he didn't come to us until late last year from Germany. We moved on through the winter to see what we had and he has been a delight. I would think he will be out soon enough, but we're swimming in a big pond now and he's only four.

"Caspian Prince has had a few little niggles since coming back from Dubai and he was 11lb higher today compared to when he won this last year. He's run well enough, but missed the break a bit and was struggling after that."

Top-weight Steps finished fourth, and jockey Jim Crowley said: "He didn't have the best of draws and he had to come through horses. It was a really big run and this horse can be a tricky ride as he has to be held up. He got slightly caught out early on by the pace but he was doing all his best work at the finish and ran really creditably. If you don't get a great start and you are on a hold up horse you need luck in running so he did well to finish where he did.

Steps' trainer, Roger Varian, said: "We're delighted with that. It shows he likes Epsom having finished fourth in this race last year and he has run well again today. He has to be held up as that is how he runs and when he is most effective. He is staying on all the way to the line and run a really great race.

"People will think we're mad but he will now go to the King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot. He ran a fantastic race in that last year and was only beaten three lengths so we are keen to go to Ascot and have another go."