Leading fancy Passenger set to be supplemented for Derby after Stoute gives green light to Dante third

Leading Derby fancy Passenger is set to be supplemented for Saturday's Epsom Classic, connections said on Sunday.

Alan Cooper, racing manager to owners the Niarchos Family, said all involved with the son of Ulysees were happy to pay the £85,000 fee to secure his place in the line-up and they feel he will be "very competitive" in an open race.

Passenger is no bigger than 11-2 to provide trainer Sir Michael Stoute with a seventh win in the race. Stoute won the prize with Desert Crown 12 months ago who, like Saturday's runner, went to Epsom after just two runs.

Connections will have until 12pm on Monday, the cut-off point for supplementary entries,  to finalise a decision but insist the plan is to go. Passenger will be the only runner in the race for the owners and Stoute.

Cooper said: "Ted Durcan sat on him on Saturday morning in Newmarket and Michael was very happy afterwards – he's recommended we should go. We don't have to supplement until Monday but as we speak now, the plan would be to supplement. I'll speak to Michael in the morning to check all is well and hopefully he'll be lining up at Epsom. 

"The horse is very well in himself and he's grown up considerably, physically and mentally. Hopefully he should be very competitive."

Passenger won impressively on his debut at Newmarket in April and caught the eye when dead-heating for third in the Dante Stakes at York last time out. He appeared to be travelling strongest in the Derby trial approaching the closing stages but was unable to get a clear run under Richard Kingscote, but when daylight appeared he finished strongly. He is shorter in the betting for the Derby than The Foxes and White Birch, who finished ahead of him at York.

The Niarchos family have never won the Derby and recent hopes challengers (2016), Circus Maximus (2019) and Piz Badille (2021) all failed to finish in the frame.

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