Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante Stakes report and free video replay | The Foxes edges Dante thriller

The runner-up was arguably an unlucky loser after fly-leaping the start and losing ground, coming from last to second for John Joseph Murphy, although there were other hard-luck stories in behind including Passenger, who got no run at a crucial stage.

Andrew Balding's The Foxes was always well-positioned under Oisin Murphy and the son of Churchill travelled into the race sweetly on the far side, hitting the front over a furlong out and holding on to win by a neck.

The Foxes was cut to a general 8/1 for Epsom glory.

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 after winning this well fancied, 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.”

Fantastic Foxes

Murphy said: “That was fantastic. I ride for a great stable and this fella was really well prepared at home.

“He’s easy to ride, he relaxes and then he’s able to show that turn of foot. He has all the attributes of a top-quality horse.

“We didn’t go crazy, but rolled along – I hope it’s a good trial for the big races to come. I won this five years ago on Roaring Lion, and on Telecaster, and I hope it’s a good pointer to the Derby.

“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.”

Timeform View: David Cleary

In marked contrast to the Musidora on the first day of the meeting, the outcome of the Al Basti Dante Stakes was far from clear cut. They bet 9/2 the field on the off and were the race to be run again next week, it's arguable the market leaders wouldn't be much shorter. The first four were covered by a length and a half and the connections of the trio behind the winner The Foxes would all have hopes of turning the tables.

To start with the winner: The Foxes looked to have come on since the Craven and looked well served by the extra quarter mile, sure to stay further again. He showed a willing attitude too, having had to work to come from off the pace.

However, The Foxes came from behind the favourite Passenger, who was travelling the better but had nowhere to go from two furlongs out. Though he ended just in a dead-heat for third, it isn't fanciful to suggest Passenger, on just his second start, would have won had he got a run when his rider first looked for one. Passenger was supplemented to run in this race and would need to be supplemented again to run in the Derby.

The runner-up White Birch, like Passenger a son of Ulysses, made his move on the opposite side of the field from The Foxes and although he didn't meet trouble, he made his move slightly later than ideal.

Continuous, the other dead-heater for third, was the only one of the first four to be making his reappearance and he left the impression he was just short of the run. There was plenty to like about the way he travelled, he's got the most obvious Derby pedigree of the four in the frame and wouldn't be a forlorn hope if he makes the Ballydoyle team.

This Dante may not have produced a vintage winner, but it sure provided plenty of food for thought.

The beaten horses - down but not out

Passenger may yet throw his hat into the Derby ring after running with immense promise in defeat in the pre-eminent Derby trial.

It was hard to know what the Ulysses colt had achieved in beating a field of fellow newcomers in the Wood Ditton at Newmarket, but it appeared significant connections decided him to supplement him for a Derby trial Sir Michael Stoute had already won on a record seven occasions, with Desert Crown doing the double just last season.

Punters on the Knavesmire ultimately agreed, with Passenger the 9/2 favourite by the time the gates opened. But what followed was a tale of woe for his supporters.

Ridden by Richard Kingscote, the Niarchos family-owned runner appeared to be travelling all over his rivals halfway up the home straight, but he could not find a gap for love nor money.

By the time Passenger did get a run, it was all too late, but there was much to like about the way he stayed on to dead-heat for third with Aidan O’Brien’s Continuous, beaten just a couple of lengths by eventual winner The Foxes.

While brief in his assessment of the performance, Kingscote immediately blamed himself, saying: “It was my fault, I couldn’t get him a run. It’s very frustrating.”

A decision on whether Stoute and the Niarchos family will roll the dice at Epsom on June 3 is made more complicated by the fact Passenger is not entered, meaning the owners will again have to stump up a supplementary fee, with the price for adding him to the Derby set at £85,000.

Paddy Power were impressed enough by his performance to make him an 8/1 shot like The Foxes, though, and connections ultimately have a couple of weeks to mull it over.

Stoute was not on the Knavesmire, but his assistant James Savage said: “It was a bit of a hard-luck story.

“He was in the stalls a long time, he jumped well and did everything brilliantly for a horse having only his second start after running on a straight mile at Newmarket.

“There’s a lot of positives to be taken out of the race. It didn’t happen for Richard up the straight, but that’s just one of those things.”

Interestingly, the only previous horse to be beaten in the Dante and win the Derby was the Stoute-trained Workforce in 2010.

When asked whether Passenger could bid to emulate the subsequent Arc hero, Savage added: “That is going to be a decision for Sir Michael and the Niarchos family. All I can say is that we’ve learnt he’s able to compete at a very high level with the best three-year-olds.

“I’m not so sure experience got him beat because if the gap had come he would have gone through it.

“He’s took a massive step forward from Newmarket to here and we’ll just see how he is.”

Alan Cooper, racing manager for the owners, said: “I’m afraid he didn’t have the clearest of runs, but it was a great improvement from his first start, so let’s get home and see what Sir Michael would like to do.

“He’s shown that he’s a good horse on only his second start. Let’s regroup.

“The family will follow Sir Michael’s advice.”

Splitting The Foxes and the third-placed pair of Passenger and Continuous was John Murphy’s Irish raider White Birch.

Winner of a heavy ground Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown on his seasonal bow, the grey proved he is equally effective on quicker conditions, charging home from the rear to be beaten only a neck.

Another son of Ulysses, White Birch does hold a Derby entry and appears bound for Epsom. He is 20/1 with Coral.

George Murphy, assistant to his father, said: “He ran a super race, quickened up really well and just bumped into one on the day, but we couldn’t be happier with the run.

“I think the horse himself thought he had it won and the winner just came from out of his vision, but we’re delighted.

“He’s a super mover and a big, powerful horse – ground doesn’t seem to bother him.

“We’ll take him home and see how he comes out of it, but I think he’s more entitled to take his chance in the Derby now. If the owners are happy to go there and he comes out of it well, I think he definitely deserves a crack at it.”

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