Across the Epsom Downs the temporary structures that form the Betfred Derby backdrop are going up but of most importance on this sweltering morning is what's coming down the hill.Five Classic hopefuls have arrived for a taster of this most unusual of tracks, though one is back for take two. Balzac, third in the Blue Riband Trial here behind Saxon Street and Rebel Rocker, has subsequently had a spin around Lingfield too, but his trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam is taking no chances with her first Derby runner. “I bought him as a foal for this race. So far so good, the plan's working,” said Chapple-Hyam, who had good reason to inspect the son of Japan at the sales as Balzac is a half-brother to her stable stalwart Claymore (New Bay).She continues, “It's a learning point because he only had one run as a two-year-old, so now he's had four runs and I just felt if I was going to come to the Derby, you need all the experience you can get. And obviously he has got a few pounds to make up. “I think it's worth a crack to be finishing in the top six. I'm not saying I'm going to win, but I'm here to give it a go for the other part of the race. So, in a funny kind of way, I would imagine Silvestre would ride him for a place. Even though, you know, if everything fell away and you're left in front, you'd be very happy.”Silvestre de Sousa had already familiarised himself with Balzac when the pair finished third in the Lingfield Derby Trial and reported that he “slid down there nicely” in an easy gallop from the top of the hill with stable-mate Military Academy.“He's a nice mover,” Chapple-Hyam added after praising the cushioned condition of the track. “He's got good front legs, so we're lucky in that sense. He's had a gallop [at Epsom], he's had a race, and then he's been to Lingfield, which is a mini-Epsom coming down the hill.“He went to the start nicely. He wasn't keen and pulling. You've got to get to the start as cool as a cucumber as well for this race. There's so much happening in the middle.”Chapple-Hyam bought the colt from his German breeder Gunther Schmidt for 30,000gns at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale and there are certainly Epsom pointers in his pedigree. His sire Japan was third behind Anthony Van Dyck in the 2019 Derby and grandsires Galileo and High Chaparral won in consecutive years, becoming Aidan O'Brien's and their sire Sadler's Wells's first and second Derby winners.Two days before the trainer's purchase, regular foal buyer Julie Wood had paid 42,000gns for Alderman. The Study Of Man colt is still a maiden after three runs but looks likely to become Wood's second runner in the race on what will be her birthday.“The dream is still there,” said Wood of her long-held quest to win the Derby. “I suppose as an outsider, I have no pressure whatsoever but I would love to give it a shot. It's hard to find a Derby horse anyway, and who knows how it'll pan out on the day.”Of all people, Wood knows just how much luck is required on the day. Two years ago, when Voyage (Golden Horn) lined up for the same trainer/jockey team of Richard Hannon and Pat Dobbs, he came home first past the post, albeit without a rider, having unseated Dobbs on leaving the stalls.David Egan fared better when riding Mojo Star (Sea The Stars) to be second to Adayar (Frankel) in 2021 for his boss Kia Joorabchian, and Egan is naturally eager to go one better this year aboard Ancient Egypt (Frankel) for Amo Racing, who also had the 2023 runner-up King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett).“He has a very big stride,” Egan said of recent Newmarket Stakes winner Ancient Egypt. “I let him use it down the hill, not racing pace, but let him go a nice gallop down the hill to make him know he was here. I thought he ticked every box we needed and blew off very quick afterwards.“He's run at Beverley and the likes, and he's been down the Dip at Newmarket. All that will help him to have in his locker for what's going to be a very competitive race. We've got a lovely individual who's really taken it all in. He's a very clever horse with a great mind and if any of the horses are getting worked up, I'll know it'll not be him on race day.” Ancient Egypt and David Egan | Megan Coggins/The Jockey Club He added, “I was lucky enough to ride Mojo Star myself, so I'd love to go one better for the team. It would be incredible. That's what we're dreaming of at the moment and we'll see if we can try and make it into a reality.”Trainer Charlie Johnston also knows about finishing second in the Derby as he filled that spot last year with Lazy Griff (Protectionist), and he says that he is not concerned about Ancient Egypt stepping up in to a mile and a half for the first time. “I think he'll improve for the distance, I'd be confident of that,” he said, “The question mark is whether he's good enough and he's going to have to improve 10lb to 14lb – he's going into it rated 5lb lower than Lazy Griff last year.“I think he'll stay, we're hopeful he'll handle the track, he's a pretty laid-back horse so I think he'll handle the occasion and the only question mark is whether he's good enough and we'll only find that out on the day.”Johnston will also saddle Venetian Lace for the Oaks. The recent 1,000 Guineas third is a daughter of Derby winner Masar, and the trainer hopes that she will not be facing Sunday's Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Precise (Starspangledbanner).He said, “Until Sunday I thought our filly had the best form in the race of those that were likely to be there. I saw the race live and that frightened me quite a bit so I would hope [Precise] doesn't come, but it looks like she might now.“Venetian Lace is a bit the other way round compared to Ancient Egypt in that I've got no doubt that she's good enough – she's been placed twice at Group 1 level – but with her the trip is an unknown. Both sides of the pedigree would give you confidence and we're pretty certain that she'll stay 10 furlongs.”Though Venetian Lace had stayed at home at Middleham, two of her potential rivals for the Oaks also took advantage of the Betfred Derby Gallops morning. John Gosden and Ralph Beckett, who have won six Oaks between them, and while Beckett viewed his Musidora third K Sarra (New Bay) as an unlikely starter post-gallop, Gosden took a more positive view of the filly who beat K Sarra at York, Legacy Link (Dubawi), as she bids to become his fifth winner of the Oaks.He said of the Juddmonte homebred, who was partnered by Colin Keane, “We thought when she ran well in the Fillies' Mile last year at Newmarket and we thought if we've got an Oaks filly, it's her. So hopefully we'll be there on the day.“That was good today, perfect and she had a nice look at the place. She went up to the top of the old mile, 110 yards start. She went a half-speed down the hill, got on the correct lead into the straight and picked up well.”Gosden evoked memories of his former boss Vincent O'Brien when speaking of the importance of “rehearsing Tattenham Corner”.“The key thing of coming here is sorting their feet out. I learned that a long time ago. I came with three horses in 1977 from Ballydoyle and I was told to go out the day before the race and canter them down the hill,” he recalled.“It was The Minstrel, Valinsky and Be My Guest. All running in the Derby. So I thought if Vincent O'Brien believed it, it's a good thing.” The post ‘If Vincent O’Brien Believed It, It’s a Good Thing’: Classic Hopefuls Take to Epsom for Betfred Derby Gallops Morning appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.