Dutch Gold, Kris Kin and Norse Dancer were each supplemented Monday at a cost of £90,000 for Saturday's Vodafone Derby at Britain's Epsom Downs. With 21 other horses nominated at the five-day confirmation stage, the purse for the classic of £1.47 million will make it the richest race ever run in Europe.Dutch Gold, trained by Clive Brittain for Sheikh Marwan Al Maktoum, won the group III Victor Chandler Chester Vase last time out. Saeed Suhail's Kris Kin, from Sir Michael Stoute's stable, also scored at Chester in the group III Philip Leverhulme Dee Stakes, while Norse Dancer belied his 100-1 odds to finish a close third to another Vodafone Derby hope, Refuse To Bend, in the Sagitta Two Thousand Guineas. Owner Jeff Smith believes the David Elsworth-trained colt could be the best he has owned.All the main contenders remain in the Vodafone Derby including the Irish- trained trio Alamshar, Brian Boru and Refuse To Bend who are all vying for favoritism. Brian Boru's trainer Aidan O'Brien, who has won the last two runnings of the Vodafone Derby with High Chaparral (2002) and Galileo (2001), has four other horses still in the race -- Alberto Giacometti, Balestrini, Handel, and The Great Gatsby. If O'Brien saddles all five runners, that would be unprecedented in the recent history of the Derby while trainers who have had four runners in one year since 1965 are Ryan Price (1975), Sir Michael Stoute (1994), Saeed bin Suroor (2000), and Barry Hills (2001).Other leading contenders include Tote Dante Stakes winner Magistretti, Sandown Park Classic Trial victor Shield, Franklins Gardens, winner of trials at Epsom Downs and Lingfield this season, Lingfield runner-up Let Me Try Again, trained in Epsom by Terry Mills, while Frankie Dettori's bid for a first win in the Vodafone Derby looks to rest on one of the two remaining entries from Godolphin, New South Wales and Graikos. Stephen Wallis, managing director at Epsom Downs Racecourse, said: "The three supplementary entries add further spice to a great renewal of the Vodafone Derby and we would like to acknowledge the sporting gesture from the horses' owners.Andrew Cooper, c lerk of the course at Epsom Downs Racecourse, added: "The going is currently good, food To firm in places, following four millimeters of rain from mid-afternoon on Sunday through until this morning. We have been dry since then and are not forecasting any rain until Wednesday, after which it could become a bit more unsettled."There is a safety limit of 20 runners in the Vodafone Derby and, if more than that number are declared on Thursday at the final declaration stage, the lowest rated declarations will be balloted out.
THE 2003 VODAFONE DERBYEpsom Downs, £1,470,000, Saturday, June 7, 2003, distance of one mile, four furlongs and about ten yards.Horse/Owner/Trainer/Probable JockeyALAMSHAR/H H Aga Khan/John Oxx/Johnny Murtagh
ALBANOV/Michael Watt/John Dunlop/
ALBERTO GIACOMETTI/Sue Magnier/Aidan O'Brien/Christophe Soumillon
BALESTRINI/Michael Tabor/Aidan O'Brien/Jamie Spencer
BRIAN BORU/Sue Magnier/Aidan O'Brien IRE/Michael Kinane
DUNHILL STAR/Mohamed Obaida/Barry Hills/Michael Hills
*DUTCH GOLD/Sheikh Marwan Al Maktoum/Clive Brittain/Philip Robinson
FRANKLINS GARDENS/Maggie Barwell/Mark Tompkins/Ted Durcan
GRAIKOS/Godolphin/Saeed bin Suroor/
HANDEL/Michael Tabor & Sue Magnier/Aidan O'Brien IRE/
*KRIS KIN/Saeed Suhail/Sir Michael Stoute/Kieren Fallon
LET ME TRY AGAIN/Terry Mills/Terry Mills/Darryll Holland
LUNDY'S LANE/Saeed Manana/Clive Brittain/
MAGISTRETTI/Michael Tabor/Neville Callaghan/Kevin Darley
NEW SOUTH WALES/Godolphin/Saaed bin Suroor/Frankie Dettori
*NORSE DANCER/Jeff Smith/David Elsworth/Richard Quinn
PRINCE NUREYEV/Bertie Gooding/Rod Millman/Steve Drowne
REFUSE TO BEND/Moyglare Stud Farms Ltd/Dermot Weld IRE/Pat Smullen
SHIELD/Hesmonds Stud/Gerard Butler/Eddie Ahern
SKELLIGS ROCK/P. J. Moriarty/Brendan Duke/Ryan Moore
STRENGTH 'N HONOUR/Annie Cyzer/Charles Cyzer/
SUMMERLAND/Robert Sangster/John Gosden/Jimmy Fortune
THE GREAT GATSBY/Sue Magnier/Aidan O'Brien IRE/Pat Eddery
UNIGOLD/Abdulla BuHaleeba/Ed Dunlop/Seb Sanders24 entries (including 3 supplementary entries) after five-day confirmation stage
*Supplementary entries
Safety limit - 20 runners
