Catching Pigeons: Gallops gossip and tips for Investec Derby Festival at Epsom

Eminent can give the mighty Frankel his first win as a sire in the Investec Derby at Epsom on Saturday.

It is a well worn cliche to say the best trial for the Blue Riband is the QIPCO 2000 Guineas, but Martyn Meade's stable star looked every inch a middle distance performer when staying on well to finish sixth to Churchill in the first Classic at Newmarket four weeks ago.

Eminent was a leading fancy for the race after showing his class with a win in the Craven Stakes in April on only his second start, and there seems no reason why he should not continue to improve. Meade believes he has Eminent in a great place for his first venture over a mile-and-a-half, and he looks excellent each-way value, in an open race. 

Those looking for a rank outsider to run well could go worse than Glencadam Glory. The son of Nathaniel is something of a wayward character, and a slow start cost him a chance of winning the Lingfield Derby Trial last month. 

John Gosden has stronger chances to win the race, but he has spent a lot of time working on this colt leaving the stalls, and if the measures have worked, he could be something of a surprise package.

Kimberella has produced some of his best form since joining Richard Fahey and can make the most of a good draw in the Investec Corporate Banking Dash Handicap. 

Sprinters come back year after year for this exciting five furlong contest down the Epsom Hill, and Kimberella showed when beaten a short head by Caspian Prince 12 months ago, that he can act on the track.

Sylvester Kirk is something of a specialist at producing Epsom winners and he should go close with the lightly-weighted Mister Blue Sky in the opening Investec Private Banking Handicap. 

A consistent sort as a two-year-old, Mister Blue Sky started his second campaign with a solid effort behind Atty Persse in the Esher Cup at Sandown before landing a handicap at Nottingham last month, and looks to have the right profile to follow up stablemate Gawdawpalin's win in this race 12 months ago. 

Although he has much more on his plate here, he looks nicely weighted for the best of his form, and is just preferred to Andrew Balding's Chelmsford winner Drochaid.

Gawdawpalin will try to follow up his course win in 2016 with victory in the Investec Out Of The Ordinary Handicap, but Balding can come out best this time with double course winner Lorelina, who can prevail despite being a little out of the handicap. This race would have been a target from early in the spring, and she has had two outings to sharpen her up. 

Hughie Morrison is always a trainer to follow when he heads north, and he can land the listed Edinburgh Gin's Fillies Stakes at Musselburgh with Pirouette. The daughter of Pivotal improved steadily last season and will be all the better for her eye-catching comeback effort behind Mix And Mingle in a Group Three at Lingfield last time.

The danger looks to be Roger Varian's Realtra, who has to concede weight all round but has held her form well after returning from Dubai. She drops from Group Three level and has done well in her previous northern forays, winning twice at Doncaster and once at Haydock during 2015.

Newcastle's Parkdean Resorts 73 Award-Winning Holiday Parks Maiden Stakes could turn out to be a reasonable contest for the track.

Market support for Cape Coast, Captor or Lady Macha could be interesting first time out but Abjar can be expected to have learnt plenty from his debut outing at Chelmsford and the son of Nathaniel has been going well in his work since then.

The experience should be put to good use and it wouldn't be a surprise to see Phillip Makin capitalise on this chance to ride for Stoute and Al Shaqab.

Ed Dunlop's Wealth Tax will appreciate the return to an all-weather surface in the Technology Services Group Handicap after a moderate showing on soft ground at Newbury.

He's eased to a mark from which he can definitely be competitive and dropping back to seven furlongs from a mile and a quarter can spark a revival in a horse who displayed plenty of promise over this kind of trip last season.

Doncaster's Betfred Follow Us On Twitter Handicap could have some implications towards next month's Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot and any number can be given chances.

Marzouq is a shade more exposed than some of his rivals but hasn't done a great deal wrong in five career starts and he's twice finished second to John Gosden's Tricorn the last twice. The handicapper hasn't missed his latest effort at the Craven meeting but Jeremy Noseda won't mind him going up with some of the better races in mind and victory here would be ample compensation for the frustrations of some narrow defeats.

Looking further ahead into next week and Call Me Grumpy is still worth monitoring after he was pulled out at Windsor on Monday following some heavy rain showers through the day.

He's got options at Windsor, Chepstow and Ripon early next week and is expected to prove well-handicapped when he reappears.

Noseda's Gotti is another who missed a recent engagement after getting upset at the start at Salisbury.

He gets a chance to atone in the first at Windsor on Monday and the weight of support for him before his intended debut suggests his smart homework is expected to be transferred immediately onto the track.