Drummer Boy's Derby

CHAMPION trainer Wayne DaCosta's DRUMMER BOY is vastly improved and has the experience of veteran jockey Gary Richards, plus the necessary pace, to get first run on COMMANDER TWO in this afternoon's Boom Jamaica Derby.

So improved is DRUMMER BOY that he easily turned the Guineas table on the likes of MARQUESAS in the 10-furlong Lotto Classic Governor's Cup, albeit receiving weight, seven lengths clear at the top of the straight, giving Gary Richards time to take a long look behind, trying to find the rest of the field.

COMMANDER TWO will be running with a bullseye on his rump, hunting a fifth straight win but untested beyond a mile - the only fancied runner in the event who has never run a route race, not even nine furlongs and 25 yards.

Carrying topweight, under which he scrambled home by a head in the 2000 Guineas, connections of the bred-to-sprint bay gelding are hoping his tactical speed will help him get the derby distance whenever and wherever he makes a bid for the lead.

COMMANDER TWO can't help but be among the leaders, not exactly where a horse, who has never gone past a mile, ought to be in a 12-furlong race. Expect the likes of HONEY RYDA, DISABILITY CHARM and, possibly, DRONE STRIKE, to keep the speedster honest, making him everybody's mark and the stayers' cue to make their move whenever he does.

FAYROUZ'S impressive 2:09.3 in the Jamaica Oaks and hard-fought mile in overnight allowance against older horses, could make her start favourite. The slower pace of 12 furlongs will also suit her running style, despite being sired by a sprint stallion, Blue Pepsi Lodge.

Though DRUMMER BOY's 2:10.3, on paper, puts him five lengths behind FAYROUZ'S Oaks win, not to mention that he ran 11lb lighter when clocking that time in the Governor's Cup, those were two entirely different races and should be treated with caution.

FAYROUZ benefited from a collapsing pace on a fast Oaks track, set by HONEY RYDA and MY SISTER, before she pounced on both after a mile, after which she sailed home unchallenged to win by seven lengths.

DRUMMER BOY won the Governor's Cup under different conditions and against better horses, colts and geldings, including MARQUESAS, OUTRAGEOUS TAJ and ROYAL AVIATOR. The filly MY SISTER, who was ahead of FAYROUZ coming off the turn in the Oaks, was left behind at the half-mile in the Governor's Cup.

Nevertheless, FAYROUZ definitely stays and will be closing from off the pace with MARQUESAS, who had established himself as the winter book favourite for the Derby by closing a hat-trick of wins with a handsome victory in the Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes at a mile, but failed to deliver as a three-year-old in the Prince Consort Stakes, Guineas and Governor's Cup.

DaCosta hammered DRUMMER BOY out of the mile chute at exercise last week, 1:41.3, beating stablemate WITHOUT EXCEPTION, signalling his intention to take the fight to COMMANDER TWO, who only beat his runner by a diminishing three-quarter length, at seven and a half furlongs, sitting level, on March 31.

Apart from improvement, DRUMMER BOY also has good pace and breeding on his side, Natural Selection, sire of last year's derby winner, SHE'S A MANEATER, FUTURE KING, who was disqualified the year before and PERFECT NEIGHBOUR, who won in 2012.