‘He wasn’t ridden to win’ – Three beaten horses to take out of the Derby

City Of Troy completed a Lazarus-esque comeback to win the Epsom Derby in impressive fashion at the weekend. It’s always a key form race which tends to provide significant clues for the big races later in the season. Whilst it’s clear that the winner’s future is bright, some of the beaten horses could be worth adding to your trackers. We’ve picked out three such horses to follow later on in the season. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.

Los Angeles (3rd)

Aidan O’Brien’s second-string was on the verge of boiling over before the race started and the experience was clearly getting to him. A Group 1 winner as a juvenile, he came into the race with an unbeaten record to defend and ran a cracker to finish third. He was helping to force the pace throughout and his finishing effort suffered as a consequence.

It seemed as if he wasn’t truly ridden to win the race and connections needed City Of Troy to triumph. The St Leger looks like the perfect long term target and the Great Voltigeur could be a good race beforehand. That being said, he looks capable of winning an Irish Derby if his stablemate goes elsewhere.

Dancing Gemini (6th)

Roger Teal’s stable star didn’t have the smoothest of passages and was forced to switch five furlongs out. Dancing Gemini didn’t quite get the trip and 1m2f could be perfect for him in the future. The son of Camelot clearly possesses plenty of ability, having finished second by half-a-length in the French 2000 Guineas before that and the best is surely yet to come. There are no standout older horses this year so the Eclipse and the Juddmonte International are there for the taking.

Sayedaty Sadaty (5th)

This horse has St Leger written all over him on the evidence of his staying-on fifth. Andrew Balding’s colt didn’t quite have the gears required when the paced quickened two furlongs out but he showed a good attitude to stick to his task. Provided the handicapper doesn’t punish him too badly, York’s Melrose Stakes could be an interesting shout, before the Leger in September.

If you back any of our selections you can watch them live on the free Racing Post app or racingpost.com. Simply log in to one of your bookmaker accounts and click ‘Watch live’ on the racecards.