CHARLIE MOVES WELL IN SHELBOURNE TRIAL

Ian Fortune

The big question since Tuono Charlie captured his sixteenth victory on the bounce has been whether he would make a Derby challenge.

He took a step in the right direction ahead of racing at Shelbourne Park on Saturday night when moving well in a 29.41 spin for the 550yd trip.

Of course, he hasn’t been seen since capturing the Irish Cambridgeshire a fortnight earlier and one suspects he hasn’t been off his bed too often in the subsequent weeks. It was a more than promising trial spin and we could well see him have another in the coming fortnight.

Later in the evening, there were a number of potential Derby challengers in action and only a couple managed to go faster than Charlie. That bodes well for the brilliant son of Good News and the 33-1 on offer for Derby glory could look on the generous side of he does get the green light.