Roger Teal aims Guineas runner-up Tip Two Win at $500,000 Derby

Tip Two Win had a successful winter in Doha last year before finishing a memorable second in the 2,000 Guineas and a year on he has returned to the Gulf, where he heads a 12-strong line-up for the $500,000 Qatar Derby.

Trained by Roger Teal, Tip Two Win is defending an unbeaten record at Al Rayyan having won on both previous visits, most recently when landing the Al Biddah Mile in February.

He went on to frank that form when chasing home Saxon Warrior in the Guineas, when those finishing behind him included subsequent Derby hero Masar, Roaring Lion and Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Expert Eye.

Tip Two Win, owned and bred by Anne Cowley, went on to finish fourth in the St James's Palace Stakes but was below his best when last seen in the Lennox Stakes at Goodwood in July.

Watch Tip Two Win finish runner-up to Saxon Warrior in the 2,000 Guineas

He will be ridden by David Probert, as usual, and takes on fellow Europeans Mr Satchmo (trained in France by Antoine de Watrigant and ridden by Olivier Peslier), and Tadhg O’Shea’s mount Ming, who was beaten less than four lengths in the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes in the US in August and is trained by Joseph O’Brien.

Teal said: "Tip Two Win had a racecourse gallop at Kempton before he left and put a big smile on my face. David rode him and he went one circuit, which is a mile and a quarter, in the company of High Acclaim, who's a very good work horse.

"They went a nice strong pace all the way. David was delighted with him and thought he'd really strengthened up since he last ran in July.”

Tip Two In: unbeaten in two runs at Al RayyanCredit: Mark Cranham

The trainer added: "We'd hoped to get him ready for the Breeders’ Cup but I didn’t want to force him and we ran out of time. Royal Ascot didn't go to plan but he still made up a lot of ground, so the only time he really disappointed was in the Lennox, and that was a race too far – he was jaded.

"He’s going really nicely again now and it’s just a matter of trying to squeeze out an extra two furlongs so that he can last the mile and a quarter of the Qatar Derby.

"Al Rayyan is a nice level track and he'll be able to bounce off the fast surface. If he’s going to get a mile and a quarter anywhere it will be in Doha."

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