O'Brien hedges on Handel

Racing/Derby news: Aidan O'Brien sprang a surprise by leaving the little-known Handel among his entry for Saturday's Derby, but the colt is more likely to run at the Curragh the following day.

The Leopardstown winner was one of the 24 left in at yesterday's five-day stage for a race that will be the richest ever run in Europe at £1,470,000.

As expected Brian Boru, Alberto Giacometti, The Great Gatsby and Balestrini will fly the Ballydoyle flag, with Handel being kept for the Gallinule Stakes.

"It's possible Handel might run at Epsom but he is more likely to run at the Curragh the following day," O'Brien said. "The work has been mostly done with the others. It's just a case of keeping them ticking over," he added.

The ground at Epsom yesterday was good with good-to-firm places and the likelihood is that it will get even faster over the next couple of days.

Clerk of the course Andrew Cooper said: "We got 4mms of overnight rain, which is half of what was forecast. The ground is unchanged and I am perfectly happy with it at the moment.

"But in a way I would have preferred rain because the forecast is dry for the next 48 hours. Some of the good-to-firm places could be quick by Wednesday."

That was music to the ears of John Oxx, who reported that Alamshar will work this morning and will be transported to Epsom on Friday.

"I will be happy if it stays dry because the ground is an issue with him, as it is with the Sadlers Wells colts. We would like it firm," Oxx said yesterday. "To be fair they go out of their way at Epsom to produce good ground. It's not like the old days when everybody ran no matter what."

Irish-trained horses have dominated the ante-post betting for the Derby all season but Oxx warned: "No one can know for sure at this stage and I can't believe the English horses are all 20 to 1 shots."

Dermot Weld also said he wasn't overly concerned about the state of the ground for Refuse To Bend.

"They usually take good care of it over there and if it is like it is every other year it will be okay. And there are showers forecast. The big question is whether or not he (Refuse To Bend) will stay. But we won't find that out until the day," said Weld.

There will be a safety limit of 20 for the Derby, for which there are three supplementary entries at £90,000 each, Norse Dancer, Kris Kin and Dutch Gold.