Carlton House Set to Take Money Ahead of 2011 Epsom Derby

After shaking off a potential injury scare during the earlier part of this week, it now appears that the best chance the Royal Family has had in years to win the Epsom Derby will be firing on all cylinders ahead of tomorrow's classic contest. There is a huge purse up for grabs and a shot at horse racing immortality for the impressive Dante Stakes winner Carlton House (Street Cry).

At one point, the Queen's leading fancy for a Royal Wedding/Epsom Derby double had been priced as low as even money for a big victory on Saturday. Currently he is floating around 5/2 but many expect a substantial sum to be dropped on him as the ante post has been relatively cool this year – a fact admitted by several major bookmakers.

French-bred Recital (Montjeu) will be representing Irish efforts to take a royal scalp here and the Group 2 Derby Trial Stakes winner looks set to be the second betting choice on the day with a 9/2 listing being floated. He boasts a significant amount of tactical speed and is actually higher-rated than the favourite.

Another prominent three-year-old son of Montjeu is commanding a decent gamble from the betting public and Pour Moi (Montjeu) has been actively campaigned on French shores this year – entering the race fresh off a Group 2 score at Saint Cloud.

Godolphin's key entry is Ocean War (Dalakhani) who enters off a listed score at Newmarket back at the end of April. It will only be his fourth career attempt but his savvy connections seem to think that his 2.5 length score puts him in good stead for this one. The key variable for his chances looks to be the presence of Frankie Dettori in the irons as Mickael Barzalona opts for Pour Moi after piloting Ocean War to his two previous victories.

There are several entries who look well out of it with prices hovering around 50/1 and 100/1. Things seem to be shaping up for Carlton House and many expect his price to be hovering at even money at the off.