Odyssey decision put on hold
Olympian Odyssey’s participation in the Vodafone Derby will not be confirmed until the last minute, according to his owner Bill Gredley.
Trainer Barry Hills is keen to run the Sadler’s Wells colt in the Epsom Classic on Saturday but a question mark over his ability to handle a mile and a half has left Gredley in a quandary.
“We are leaving it (a decision) pretty late,” said Gredley, whose User Friendly won the Oaks in 1992.
“It’s no great mystery because we think he is a mile-and-a-quarter horse and the Derby is a mile and a half.
“Everyone would like to win the Derby and you say to yourself ‘do you take the chance that he gets the extra two furlongs and have a crack?’.
“I don’t think the horse will get a mile and a half around Epsom but one never knows – it’s the quirk of racing and breeding.”
Hills’ three-year-old followed up from his encouraging seasonal bow – he finished second in the Feilden Stakes – by taking third place from George Washington in the Stan James 2000 Guineas earlier in the month.
And despite Gredley’s reservations, Olympian Odyssey is still as low as 14-1 with Paddy Power to win the Derby.
“I think Barry’s very keen because he thinks he’s a Derby horse,” Gredley told At The Races.
“But I’ve yet to be convinced from everything that I’ve heard that he’s going to get the mile and a half.
“If we do run him we are taking a chance that he gets the trip.”
