Leep of faith
DUNLOP: ALL HE CAN DO IS IMPROVE
IF a name evoking talent works with racehorses, we should all back John Leeper for next Saturday’s Derby.
The colt is named after John Dunlop, who savoured victory in the Epsom Classic with Shirley Heights in 1978 and Erhaab 16 years later.
Housed in Newmarket’s historic La Grange stables run by the late training legend’s son Ed, John Leeper is the son of modern great Frankel and Snow Fairy, saddled by Dunlop jnr to glory in the Oaks at
Epsom in 2010.
No pressure, then. “Having a horse named after your esteemed father who has won the Derby twice puts pressure on,” admits Dunlop, whose athletic bay is, at 7-1, rated by the bookies as the best chance of a ‘home’ Derby win.
“Not on the horse – he hasn’t a clue he’s called John Leeper – but it means something special.
“I maintain he is a false price because he is an unproven horse and because of his name and his pedigree.
“It’s nothing to do with his trainer!
“But it’s good pressure. We haven’t had a decent horse with the idea, rang my mother and asked permission,” recalls Dunlop.
“I probably said, ‘Are you bonkers?’
“He was a colt by Frankel out of Snow Fairy but she had no idea if the horse was any good.”
She has now. John Leeper, a debut fourth at Doncaster’s St Leger meeting last September, returned with a four-length victory on the all-weather at Newcastle at the end of April.
Dunlop, whose other Classic triumph also came in the Oaks with Ouija Board in 2004, sent the three-year-old to his local track 15 days later, where John for some time and having a horse who could be decent is very exciting for all my team and the owner.”
That owner is 89-year-old Cristina Patiño, daughter of Bolivia’s ‘King of Tin’ Antenor Patiño and a long-standing patron of the Dunlop family. Having a horse
John Leeper was named after your a 10-week-old foal esteemed father when Dunlop snr puts pressure on died at the age of 78 in July 2018.
Patiño, whose colours were carried to six top-level triumphs – including in Ireland, Hong Kong and Japan – by Snow Fairy, sought to mark the 10-time Classic winner’s passing. “Mrs Patiño came up
Leeper won the Listed Fairway Stakes to book his place for Epsom.
“The most gratifying thing was it took William Buick ages to pull him up,” says the 52-year-old, who has booked Adam Kirby for next weekend’s test. “He has improved unbelievably from his first run to here.
“Physically, he looks much better, all he can do is improve.
“Whether he is there at this stage of his life, who knows?
“I wouldn’t care if the Derby was only worth £1.
“It’s the Derby and it will be the greatest day of my training career – by a very long way – if he were to win. It means a huge amount.”