Wolverhampton prep for Noseda Kentucky hope

WOLVERHAMPTON is not accustomed to hosting a potential superstar on its December 26 card but the all-weather venue's Christmas meeting is to play host to a Kentucky Derby candidate after Jeremy Noseda revealed plans to run Harvard N Yale in a £3,500 conditions event.

Harvard N Yale's appearance in the Boxing Day Novice Stakes, staged over just short of 1m1f, will also mean Wolverhampton gets to welcome Ryan Moore, who will be riding the colt for the first time, to its festive fixture.

 

Harvard N Yale's owner Earle Mack has long harboured an ambition to have a runner in the Churchill Downs Classic and the dirt-bred colt would appear to fit the bill.

The son of Smart Strike first sprang to prominence in August when landingthe same Newmarket maiden that launched Frankel to greatness in 2010. He followed that effort with another encouraging display when runner-up to Cavaleiro in the Haynes, Hanson & Clark Stakes at Newbury the following month.

Although quoted at 25-1 for the Investec Derby, Harvard N Yale is not entered at Epsom. The owner's racing manager Fiona Shaw said: "Mr Mack has always wanted to have a runner in the Kentucky Derby and we hope that Harvard N Yale can make the grade.

"Depending on how he works on Tuesday we hope to start off at Wolverhampton on Boxing Day to give him some experience of going left-handed around a bend.

"Beyond Wolverhampton, the next step is to send the horse for a trial in the US early in the New Year with all roads leading to the Kentucky Derby on May 5."

Noseda's last assault on the Kentucky Derby came unstuck when Awesome Act beat only one home in 2010.