Richard Fahey, who was successful in Sweden on Tuesday evening with Superior Premium, can round off a memorable week at Epsom tomorrow.

The Butterwick trainer saddles another of his smart sprinters, Night Flight, in the £45,000 Vodafone 'Dash' Rated Handicap and can clinch this valuable prize.

Winner of his last two races, at York and Haydock, Night Flight goes into battle at the peak of his powers and although he will be just out of the handicap here, Fahey believes this downhill course and easy ground will be tailor-made for him.

With Fahey's smart apprentice Robert Winston on board, Night Flight is strongly fancied to give his local connections a thrilling Derby day triumph.

Mick Easterby is another local handler who can add his name to the Epsom scoresheet.

The Sheriff Hutton trainer saddles Dancing Phantom in the Vodafone Handicap and this former inmate of Sir Michael Stoute's stable would not need to improve much on his narrow defeat at Beverley recently to take a hand in the finish.

Fa-Eq, successful at Kempton last month, looks the answer to the Group 3 Vodafone Diomed Stakes, while Montecristo, despite a below-par effort at York last time, should not be left out of calculations in the Vodafone International Rated Handicap.

At Doncaster, Settrington trainer John Quinn can continue his purple patch with Premium Princess in the Magic Fillies' Handicap.

The four-year-old came from an unlikely position to win well at Newcastle last week and hails from a stable which sent out two winners at Beverley on Wednesday night.

Vintage Premium went into many notebooks as a certain future winner after going down narrowly on his Ripon debut. He deserves respect in the Derby Day On Town Moor Maiden Auction Stakes.

Royal Result, who should now be approaching his peak after three races this season, should not be overlooked in the Newey & Eyre Electrical Distributors Handicap. Alex Greaves takes the mount on the gelding, trained by her husband, Dandy Nicholls.

The Stanley Racing Handicap will be added to Channel 4's televised programme from Epsom, and Shaffishayes, overdue a win, can take the spotlight.

Mary Reveley's charge has finished in the frame in all his three starts this season and finished a close third to High Tatra at Thirsk last time.

BBC1 cameras will be at Haydock to show the first three races. Warningford promises to play a starring role by lifting the £20,000 Joseph Holt Derby Brewery John of Gaunt Stakes.

Best hope of Derby glory is on Oat

by Tom O'Ryan

Swear on Oath in tomorrow's Vodafone Derby at Epsom.

A fourth mount in the race for former Norton jockey Kieren Fallon, who has yet to be placed in Britain's premier Classic, Oath represents his best chance yet of writing his name into the record books.

Trained by Henry Cecil, Oath has really come into his own in the last six weeks and his runaway success in the Dee Stakes at Chester last month was nothing if not wholly impressive.

Striking the front over two furlongs out, he quickly forged clear and, despite being eased before the finish, still had five lengths to spare over the previously unbeaten Little Rock at the line.

Tomorrow's extra two furlongs should not inconvenience Oath, and the possibility of soft ground is not a worry either, as he won in the mud as a two-year-old at Nottingham.

In a wide-open race, Salford Express, winner of the Grosvenor Casinos Dante Stakes at York last month, makes almost as much appeal as any to give Oath most to think about.

There was much to like about his Knavesmire success, which was achieved on soft ground from the front, and the way he saw out that extended mile and quarter suggests he should have no difficulty staying this longer trip.

Previously successful over 11 furlongs at Newbury, Salford Express will have the services of Pat Eddery, who is no stranger to Derby success.

Zajeer, another York winner - of the Glasgow Stakes - will relish the ease in the ground at Epsom and can not be discounted after his comfortable success over Mukhalif, who franked the form by winning last Sunday's Italian Derby.

Beat All, who pricked a foot last week and was confined to the easy list for a couple of days, represents Sir Michael Stoute and his new American stable-jockey Gary Stevens, who will be having his first Derby mount.

An impressive winner at Newmarket on his reappearance, Beat All commands plenty of respect, despite his recent setback, but a bigger worry is the going. It is significant to recall that Stoute took him out of the Dante Stakes after the ground turned soft on Knavesmire.

Dubai Millennium, unbeaten in all his three races, still has plenty to prove, not least his ability to stay this distance. He is passed over for the reason, as is Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Saffron Walden, a horse with plenty of speed, but suspect in the stamina department.

Lucido, closely tied with Oath on Newbury form at the beginning of the season, when the pair were separated by only a neck, has since won the Lingfield Derby Trial from Daliapour.

He gets the trip, goes on most types of ground and, wherever Oath finishes, he should not be far away.

Housemaster, disqualified for causing interference after winning the Chester Vase entirely on merit, can not be left out of calculations, and nor can Val Royal, simply because he is unbeaten in three starts and represents the formidable combination of Andre Fabre and jockey Oliver Peslier, who took last year's Derby on the Luca Cumani-trained High-Rise.

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