Kevin Blake's Saturday Racing Tips: Back 125/1 shot for Derby Glory

Derby day at Epsom! One of my favourite days of the racing calendar and this year's renewal looks to be a belter.

Now, there is a certain amount of uncertainty at the time of writing as regards how much rain is likely to fall on Saturday. I'm going to work on the basis of good-to-soft ground and we'll see what transpires. As if it wasn't hard enough to find the winners of these races!

Stone of Destiny gets the thumbs up

My first port of call is the utterly bonkers Simpex Express 'Dash' Handicap (15:45). With 20 sprint handicappers barrelling down the fastest five-furlong track in the land, what isn't to like?

For obvious reasons, I view this race as a real contest for specialists and like to look to recent renewals for clues.

When one looks back at last year's race and goes through those that are returning for another go this this year, the Andrew Balding-trained Stone Of Destiny stands out like a severed thumb.

The seven-year-old ran an absolute stormer to finish third off a mark of 102 in last year's renewal despite getting precious little luck until the winner had long flown. He powered home towards the near rail, but it was just too late.

Given the way he tends to be ridden, and the nature of this race, he could just as easily get horrible luck again. But having dropped down a mark of 92, he is crying out to have a chance taken on him.

If things drop any way kindly for him, he is likely to run a big race. He is one of my selections that wouldn't want it any softer than good-to-soft, so keep an eye on how the weather is panning out.

Glory Daze could shake up the world

The main event of the day is the Cazoo Derby (16:30) and isn't it great to see it attract a field of 17 runners. It doesn't make finding the winner any easier, but it makes for a really competitive spectacle which is rare enough at the top end of British and Irish horse racing these days.

I found it a tough race to decipher. I don't have a whole lot against those at the front of the market and I also quite like both Piz Badile and Star Of India.

Having struggled to reach a solid conclusion and with the weather forecast threatening to do wild things, I decided that maybe I should do a wild thing too and side with a horse at an absolutely giant price that I have liked for quite some time.

The Andy Oliver-trained Glory Daze is a 125/1 shot with the Betfair Sportsbook at the time of writing and I think that price is way too big.

He has improved run-to-run in each of his five career starts to date, winning a mile-and-a-quarter maiden at the Curragh in great style in April prior to finishing a never-nearer second to Stone Age in the Derby Trial Stakes at Leopardstown.

It really is difficult to see why the market has been so dismissive of him. His trainer Andy Oliver wouldn't be a regular player on big days, but he has shown on multiple occasions in the past that he is more than good enough when his horse is up to it.

Perhaps it is because he is by Cotai Glory, a sprinter that has primarily produced sprinters thus far. However, whilst I spend more time studying pedigrees than most, racecourse evidence is far more relevant than pedigree.

Not only does his form and the way he has shaped thus far suggest that he will relish the step up to a mile-and-a-half, I conducted an analysis on his striding patterns, and they revealed him to be a notably slow strider that should not only relish the Derby trip, he could well stay the St Leger trip too.

When one views his form in that context, what he has achieved over a mile-and-a-quarter in recent starts has an altogether greater shine on it. If the rain arrives and places even further emphasis on stamina, he could well shake up the world and run a big race at a colossal price.