‘Major interest’ in Aidan O’Brien colt forces bookies to slash Derby odds as huge Timeform rating backs up debut win

‘MAJOR interest’ in an Aidan O’Brien colt has forced bookies to slash his odds on winning the Derby – as a huge Timeform rating backed up his impressive debut win.

The Lion In Winter quickened up in style to win a 7f maiden at the Curragh under Wayne Lordan last weekend.

Ryan Moore had the pick of the Ballydoyle two-year-olds but got it wrong on the day going for 5-4 fav Ides Of March.

The Lion In Winter won going away having been sent off 11-2 and ratings experts Timeform took an incredibly kind view of his performance.

He was given an initial rating of 100p (the p meaning improvement is expected).

That puts him third in the ranking of O’Brien’s ten Derby winners on debut, behind only City Of Troy (102) and Galileo (107).

For context, Auguste Rodin was given a comparatively lowly 84 while Wings Of Eagles was given just 64.

As it stands, The Lion In Winter is ahead of where 2013 and 2014 Derby winners Ruler Of The World and Australia were after debut (both were given 97).

And he is head and shoulders above the likes of Camelot and High Chaparral, who were both awarded 92.

As such, bookies have cut The Lion In Winter’s Derby odds from 25-1 to 16-1 and made him the new favourite.

Coral’s David Stevens said: “We initially quoted this son of Sea The Stars at 25-1 for both the 2000 Guineas and Derby following his impressive debut success on Saturday.

“And it seems that punters were also taken with his Curragh victory, with his odds for the Epsom Classic already trimmed into clear 16-1 favouritism.”

By former Derby winner Sea Of The Stars and out of a dam who won over a mile and a half, everything points to The Lion In Winter relishing the step up in trip.

Speaking after his victory, O’Brien purred: “The Lion In Winter is a lovely horse and had been working lovely.

“He will have no problem going up in trip but he has plenty of class.”

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