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Westover aiming for Irish Derby glory after-Epsom-disappointment

Westover, who finished an impressive third in the Epsom Derby despite being hampered, could be on his way to the Curragh for the Irish version of the race at the end of June.

Westover was beaten just under three lengths by Desert Crown and was only a head behind the runner-up Hoo Ya Mal. But many feel he would have given the winner a much harder battle if his passage had not been blocked after Tattenham Corner.

Now trainer Ralph Beckett thinks a crack at the Irish Derby on June 25 will make up for a missed opportunity, and Westover is raring to go.

Beckett said: "He pulled out very well this morning and he was kicking the door down when he was fed, so I would imagine he'll go to the Curragh in three weeks' time.
"The Irish Derby is the obvious race for him. Rory Mahon, who ran Ferrans Stud for Juddmonte for 40 years, every time he saw me in the last six months he's said 'that horse will suit the Curragh you know'. I think he's right.
"We'll concentrate on the Curragh first and see what we do after that. I'll put him in the King George on Tuesday and we'll see how we go."

The Andover-based Beckett believes that Westover may have been in line for a stronger challenge at Epsom if events hadn't conspired against him.

"I think perhaps second got away, whether we could justifiably think we'd have won, I think that's a leap of faith," the trainer told Sky Sports Racing.

"I'd like to think he would have bustled up the winner certainly, and made the winner work harder for it.

"Up until Thursday at 10.30am I thought we'd got everything right. The draw obviously was a negative, purely statistically. That pricked our balloon slightly at the time and I think with a better draw he wouldn't have got stuck down on the fence. That's life, isn't it?"

"We'll concentrate on the Curragh first and see what we do after that. I'll put him in the King George on Tuesday and we'll see how we go."
Beckett also provided an update on 1000 Guineas runner-up Prosperous Voyage, who is bound for the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot following an aborted trip to France last weekend.
He added: "She'll run in the Coronation. The Highways Agency in their wisdom decided to close the M20 last Friday night with half of Liverpool trying to get to the Champions League final on Saturday morning, so we never actually made it to the gate at Dover and she kept missing ferries.
"I turned her round and came home, otherwise it was going to be a 16 or 18-hour trip for the Prix Saint-Alary.

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