A Derby day fit for a true Irish Entrepreneur

OLD STONEFACE doesn't speak much, but when he does it's usually to the point. The Derby may no longer stop Parliament or draw a million people to Epsom Downs but, as Lester Piggott says, "It's still the race everybody wants to win."

The `Arc', King George and assorted Breeders' Cups may be more competitive, but the prestige of having a Derby winner will have a range from billionaire Sheikhs down to humble stable lads struggling to control knotted bellies.

Entrepreneur goes into the Derby as an odds-on favourite, with a brilliant Guineas victory behind him and the suspicion that he may be one of those exceptional racehorses that becomes a benchmark.

There is also the nagging doubt, however, that the brilliance which won him the Guineas may mean a corresponding lack of staying power over the helter-skelter, half-mile extra at Epsom. Sir Ivor, in 1968, overcame those doubts under a ride of a lifetime from Piggott.

This afternoon, Michael Kinane may have to perform a similar conjuring act on a colt worth millions, in front of millions and get it just right in a two-and-a-half minute period that can define a career. Pressure? You'd better believe it.

Kinane, 37, knows exactly what's at stake today and how much rests on his shoulders. "It might be only two-and-a-half minutes, but if I f* up, I'll be remembered for a while," he says.

"There is a serious investment in Entrepreneur and if he comes through the Derby, he's a valuably individual. It's important to get it right. A jockey can't allow himself to be distracted," Kinane says.

A focused Kinane can be an intimidating sight for his opposition, and for anyone foolhardy enough to try and engage him in banalities on the very eve of a big race. However, that intensity allied to a surgeon's touch, or a docker's brute strength when required, has paid off spectacularly over the last decade with a list of big race wins comparable with, if not better than, any other rider in the world.

Many of them have been on horses trained by Dermot Weld who recognises Kinane's ability to shut out the superfluous when needed. "Everybody feels pressure differently, but Mick does have immense confidence in his own ability," Weld says.

That confidence, though, is bolstered by attention to detail before-hand. When Kinane leaves the Epsom weighroom today in Entrepreneur's blue and orange silks, the tension will be eased somewhat by knowing he couldn't have prepared any more.

"A jockey has to know how he wants the race to go, but also have contingency plans in case the race turns out differently. That's what I've been doing for the Derby since a long time back, trying to predict what the others are going to do and how I'll react," he considers, before smiling: "but the horse has to do the running. I can do no more than point him."

If only riding around Epsom were that simple. With its bizarre cocktail of twists, turns, cambers and undulations, it is still regarded as a supreme test.

"I remember going to the spring meeting when I was an apprentice to ride one for Willie Fenin. I walked the course and I lust thought `Jesus, how can they run a Derby around here'. But every element is in it. A horse has to adapt, has to be balanced and has to have an attitude. He has to have the will for it, to want it. If he does handle Epsom it can ride so well. It can be a nightmare or a pleasure to ride around there," he says.

"I'm confident my horse will truly stay, but in the past, 10-furlong horses like Sir Ivor have won. Most of the straight is downhill and the final hill is only 100 yards long, so it's possible to get momentum going into that to get you over. If I'm going well at the furlong marker, I'll have Entrepreneur running into the hill," Kinane says.

That will, then, be Entrepreneur's biggest challenge, but getting him into the position to use his kick will be Kinane's.

He feels that in the early part of the race his opposition will dictate his approach.

"My dangers will be attacking, I know that. A horse like Silver Patriarch is, I think, my biggest danger because he is sure to stay. I feel he'll outstay Benny The Dip and when I saw Cloudings win in France it looked to me like he lacked a gear. I think in his heart of hearts (Olivier) Peslier knows he would rather be on Benny The Dip," Kinane says.

He has little time for those who point out that the form of Entrepreneur's 2,000 Guineas success hasn't been totally advertised by those who finished behind him, but then those doing the pointing haven't had the experience of discovering first hand what this colt can do. Kinane did, a week before the Guineas when he sat on him for the first time in a workout at Sandown racecourse.

"It's very rare that a horse will excite me when riding work but he did. As a Sadlers Wells (Entrepreneur's sire), I thought he'd want cut in the ground and a trip and those were the two things he wasn't. Put it this way, I was surprised by the speed he showed in the Guineas," he says.

Entrepreneur's odds-on rating by the bookmakers will count for nothing out on the track and it's worth noting that of the five odds-on Derby favourites since the war, three have been beaten.

Kinane, the man with the greatest responsibility in sport this afternoon, provides much more substantial encouragement.

"I think if he stays, Entrepreneur could be exceptional and I think he'll stay," he says, with the confidence of a man happy in his ability to perform best when it counts most. It's a confidence Old Stoneface would approve of.