'Big Rock has a heart like a nuclear reactor' - Christopher Head targets French Derby success on Sunday

Favourite Big Rock will face ten rivals in Sunday's Qatar Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly after the smallest field since Dalakhani's victory 20 years ago was declared.

And Christopher Head's representative has drawn well in stall two, offering the prospect that Aurelien Lemaitre will be able to dictate the tempo on the long-striding son of Rock Of Gibraltar.

Among the other fancied runners, the supplemented Feed The Flame will break from six, while Ryan Moore and Continuous are on the rail in stall one. Frankie Dettori's final start in the Jockey Club – a race he has captured on three previous occasions – will be aboard the John and Thady Gosden-trained Epictetus, who is drawn in nine.

Big Rock has carried all before him in four starts since joining Head at the start of the season, with a Polytrack handicap success enough to book him an entry for the Jockey Club, and then successive wins in a Listed and two Group 3s cementing his growing reputation.

In the Prix de Guiche at a rain-sodden Chantilly he left his rivals strung out like chasers at the end of three miles and while that was over a furlong and a half shy of the Jockey Club trip of a mile and two and a half furlongs, Head is as confident as he can be that the added distance will not derail Big Rock.

"He has that high cruising speed and he is able to save a bit for the finish, and to repel those coming at him from behind," Head told a France Galop media conference. "That cruising speed is just innate in him and he doesn’t use up a lot of gas doing it; I think his cardio and respiratory capacity is extraordinary."

Asked to expand on what he considers to be Big Rock's unusual physical attributes, Head added: "He has a heart like a nuclear reactor."

Returning to the subject of whether the general 2-1 favourite will truly see out the trip – and potentially the mile and a half of the Arc – Head said: "On pedigree there shouldn’t be any stamina worries.

Christopher Head: works closely with owner Leopoldo Fernandez PujalsCredit: Edward Whitaker

"The only real question is his aptitude for the task, because he is a steamroller. It's a case of whether he can prolong that style of running. The only way you can finally know is in the race itself. I certainly don’t want to try and find out any earlier than that."

Head has maintained an excellent 31 per cent strike-rate this season and bids to add a second Classic following victory in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches with Blue Rose Cen who, in common with Big Rock, carries the blue and white silks of owner Leopoldo Fernandez Pujals.

"Leopoldo is a brilliant, self-taught man who, once he launches himself into a given enterprise, really does everything to master that domain," said Head. "It really is a huge opportunity for a young trainer to work with something like him and I am extremely grateful."

Qatar Prix du Jockey Club

Coral: 2 Big Rock, 4 Feed The Flame, 6 Continuous, 8 Marhabi Ya Sanafi, American Flag, 10 Ace Impact, 12 Epictetus, 20 Rajapour, Winter Pudding, 25 Flight Leader, Padishakh

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