Beat Hollow took a positive step down the road to Epsom with a satisfactory gallop at Newmarket yesterday. It was the horse's first serious piece of work since the Sadler's Wells colt was laid low with mucus in his lungs - a problem that also affected Henry Cecil's two other Vodafone Derby contenders Bien Entendu and Wellbeing.
'They've all been wrong with mucus in their lungs. They're clear now and they worked for the first time this morning,' said the Newmarket trainer. 'I was happy with them.'
There is only three weeks to the Derby so time is running out for Cecil to get another race into the son of Sadler's Wells before racing's blue riband at Epsom on June 10th.
Barathea Guest, third to King's Best in the Sagita 2,000 Guineas, could also enter Derby calculations should connections decide not to supplement him for the Entenmann's Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh next Saturday.
Owner John Guest would have to fork out £25,000 on Tuesday to put the Group Three Lanes End Greenham Stakes winner in the Curragh classic. Guest's racing manager Tim Corby said: 'We are considering supplementing for the Irish 2000 Guineas. A decision will be made very early on Tuesday morning in consideration of likely going conditions. The English Derby is a clear possibility,' he added.
