Darren v The Goliaths: Curragh trainer Bunyan bidding to hit the big time

David got the better of Goliath, but Darren? Well, he's facing a much stiffer task.

In the Al Quoz Sprint he is taking on three Godolphin runners, one from Aidan O'Brien, another owned by Sheikh Hamdan and three from Breeders' Cup sensation Peter Miller – and then there is Tony Bloom's Group 1 winner Librisa Breeze.

Up against them is Curragh-based Darren Bunyan, who had just 17 different horses last year in Ireland – winning seven races. He saddles the 40-1 rank outsider Hit The Bid but his faith in his horse means he lines up with much more than hope.

"I have no doubt he'll win a Group 1," says a confident Bunyan. "Whether it's Saturday I don't know because in these sprints you need a bit of luck, you can be beaten a length and finish fifth. But to finish worse he'd need things not go right on the day, he is definitely a Group 1 horse. If he gets the luck in running every sprinter needs they'll have him to beat as much as he'll have them."

That is a lot of conviction for a man in just his seventh full season as a trainer, but then Bunyan knows his way around a top-class horse. In a 30-year career he has worked for Dermot Weld, John Oxx, Jonjo O’Neill and Ken Condon and he adds: "We might only be a small yard but I've been in racing a very long time and connected to a lot of Group 1 horses over the years – and he's definitely one.

"I've never seen a horse with the speed he has, he has a huge amount of early pace and he keeps going off it. He really is top drawer."

As a trainer Bunyan also has form in the book that suggests he knows a classy animal. On the same day he bought Hit The Bid for the Straight To Victory syndicate, headed by his brother Brian, he also picked up Beat The Bank, who won before being sold on to Andrew Balding.

To say they got a decent return from the 70,000gns they paid for the pair at the Tattersalls October Book 2 sale in 2015 would be an understatement, while their third purchase that year – Mister Trader who chased home Caravaggio in the Marble Hill Stakes before being sold – also returned a healthy profit.

Bunyan has one or two who are not for sale, but operates largely on the Southampton FC model of identifying hidden gems at more reasonable prices and showing the world just how good they are before letting them move on and reinvesting the profits. It has taken him from two horses – who won 11 races between them, bought in the middle of the recession at the end of 2010 with a €10,000 loan from Brian – to 25, one of whom he believes can win a Group 1.

And, just like Southampton, he knows exactly the value of what he is sitting on – which makes Hit The Bid something of his very own Virgil van Dijk. The offers that have been tabled so far have been rebuffed. He smiles and says: "They were fairly sizeable, but for what we know he's capable of, and what he'll go on to do, they weren't enough.

Darren Bunyan and his Al Quoz Sprint hope Hit The Bird at MeydanCredit: Edward Whitaker

"From the very start we knew this was a very good horse and I said to Brian midway through his two-year-old days he could be a horse for Dubai. We didn't overface him as a two-year-old and we minded him last year as there's no sprint programme in Ireland for good three-year-olds.

"So he's been learning his trade with this year in mind. Some of his form, even last year, was exceptional and I'd be very confident anything up to now was only a bonus – this is the start of him."

The level of precision Bunyan brings to both the planning and execution belies his underdog status. This is not just some happy-go-lucky desert jaunt, Hit The Bid has been out in Dubai since December 27 preparing for a moment that Bunyan has been building towards for a year and a half.

The Goliaths look to have things covered, but this is another David it could be a big mistake to rule out.

If this is the start – what next?

With sprinters no race can be the be-all and end-all because at Group 1 level a split second's bad luck can ruin even the best-laid plans. Perhaps it should not be a surprise, given his meticulous nature, but to that end Bunyan has already mapped out the entire campaign for his stable star.

Trainer Darren Bunyan Dundalk Photo: Patrick McCann 27.09.2012Credit: Patrick McCann

He says: "From here he'll go to the $2 million sprint in Hong Kong at the end of April, the King's Stand would be his first major target back in Europe and then the Nunthorpe and Flying Five would be on our radar, but it's all ground dependent with him as he needs it the soft side of good or quicker to show his best.

"I do think if we get good ground for the Flying Five at the Curragh, which is a Group 1 now, it's going to take a hell of a horse to beat him. I hope he's won a Group 1 by then already but that's a race I think he's made for."

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