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Run at York racecourse, the Dante Stakes is a Group Two contest for 3 year-olds that is run over a trip of 1m2f.
Staged in the middle of May each season the middle-distance contest is seen as a key Epsom Derby Trial, with four of the last 19 Dante Stakes winners going onto land the fourth English Classic – Golden Horn, in 2015, being the most-recent horse to complete the Dante/Derby double.
Trainer John Gosden has won three of the last 7 runnings and Mark Johnston has been responsible for two of the last 5 winning horses. The Sir Michael Stoute camp are another yard to respect having landed the race six times – anything they send to post, as well as leading Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien, who has also won the race four times, should be noted.
We take a look back at past winners of the Dante Stakes, plus give you the key trends ahead of the 2022 renewal – this year run on Thursday 12th May
Here at JUICESTORM we look back at past winners of the Dante Stakes, plus give you the key trends ahead of the 2022 renewal – this year run on Thursday 12th May.
Recent Dante Stakes Winners
2021 – HURRICANE LANE (5/1)
2020 – THUNDEROUS (13/2)
2019 – TELECASTER (7/1)
2018 – ROARING LION (3/1 fav)
2017 – PERMIAN (10/1)
2016 – WINGS OF DESIRE (9/1)
2015 – GOLDEN HORN (4/1)
2014 – THE GREY GATSBY (9/1)
2013 – LIBERTARIAN (33/1)
2012 – BONFIRE (3/1)
2011 – CARLTON HOUSE (11/4)
2010 – CAPE BLANCO (9/2)
2009 – BLACK BEAR ISLAND (12/1)
2008 – TARTAN BEARER (10/1)
2007 – AUTHORIZED (10/11 fav)
Dante Stakes (Group 2) Cl1 1m2f88y ITV
Key Trends and Stats
17/19 – Winners that went onto run in the Epsom Derby (4 won)
15/19 – Finished third or better last time out
13/19 – Returned 8/1 or shorter in the betting
13/19 – Had a previous race that season
12/19 – Won their previous race
10/19 – Went onto be placed in the Epsom Derby
5/19 – Had won over 1m2f before
4/19 – Went onto win the Epsom Derby
4/19 – Winning favourites
3/19 – Won by trainer Aidan O’Brien (won it 4 times in all)
3/19 – Won by trainer Sir Michael Stoute (won it 6 times in all)
3/19 – Won by jockey Ryan Moore
3/19 – Trained by John Gosden (3 of last 7 runnings)
3/19 – Ridden by William Buick
2/19 – Trained by Mark Johnston (2 of last 5)
2/19 – Ridden by Frankie Dettori
1/19 – Had run at York before
0/19 – Winners from stall 2
Just 2 winning favourites in the last 14 runnings
Golden Horn (2015) was the last Dante winner to go onto win the Epsom Derby
JUICESTORM VERDICT: The James Ferguson team have a nice one on his hands in El Bodegon, who is sure to be popular when form students notice that his last run in October was a 1 1/2 length beating of last Sunday’s winner of the Leopardstown Derby Trial and now Derby favourite – Stone Age.
However, that win came in very soft conditions and even though that form has been given a big boost this 3 year-old colt is still to race on ground quicker than good-to-soft – that would be the worry
Anything trainer Aidan O’Brien sends to post at the moment has to be respected – he won most of the big races at Chester last week and already holds a strong hand in the Epsom Derby betting market. He has Bluegrass here, with Ryan Moore riding. But he was only third last time out at Leopardstown and has so far been unplaced in both runs over 1m2f.
Masekela, for Andrew Balding, has a Derby entry and showed useful form as a 2 year-old last season, but the worry for him and also Royal Partronage, who beat him at HQ last Sept, is getting this longer distance.
So, the two that look the most likely to battle this out are the Gosden runner- Magisterial and the Stoute-trained Desert Crown.
The once-raced Desert Crown is 6/1 for the Derby and already has a tall reputation even after just the one run and win. That came at Nottingham last November, but it was an eye-catching 5 1/2 length success. The small worry though is that came on soft ground and he’s also not had a run since – whereas, most of his main rivals have been on the course in the last month or so.
We’ve also only seen 2 winning Dante Stakes favourites in the last 14 runnings, which would be a negative for Desert Crown if he keeps his position at the head of the market.
So, the selection is the Frankel colt – MAGISTERIAL. He will be popular with Frankie Dettori also riding and he returned last month with a nice win at Leicester. He’s 25/1 for the Epsom Derby – odds that will vanish if he can land this.
He’s an improving sort and with three career runs is a fair bit more experienced than Desert Crown (1 run). He also looked to have a bit up his sleeve last time at Leicester and even though this is a big step up in grade he’s got powerful connections that must feel he’s up to it.