Item firmly on the agenda for the Derby Challenge Racing news

Item York’s Al Basti advertised his Betfred Derby credentials to maintain his unbeaten record in the Equiworld Dubai Dante Stakes.

Arriving at the Knavesmire having won both outings as a juvenile, the Andrew Balding-trained son of Frankel was sent off at 11-2 for his seasonal reappearance in what is widely regarded as a key trial for next month’s Epsom Classic.

With Colin Keane brimming with supreme confidence, Juddmonte number one long-time leader stuck away with the action as the bulk of the pack split at the stand rail.

Asked to win his race inside the final furlong, Item sped away from a smart two-and-three-quarter length action, with Aidan O’Brien-trained stablemate Christmas Day, the 11-4 favourite, third.

The victory discovered a second classic contender for the owners after Legacy Link’s Musidora victory 24 hours earlier, making it 5-1 for Coral for the Item Derby.

Judemont racing manager Barry Mahon said: “It was his third career start and his first this year.

“He does his job beautifully at home, but he’s not flashy and we were a bit unsure of where we were, but it was a good performance.

“We won a trial so the obvious place is the Derby, buying and breeding these horses to compete at the top table in the best races at Juddmont and the Epsom Derby is still one of the best races in the world.

“Colin said he felt like a horse that would go further so we’ll talk to the owners, but hopefully they’ll want to go to Epsom.”

He added: “Some very good horses have won trials at Chester and Lingfield, but this horse has done no wrong, he’s three from three and he keeps answering questions.

“We came here today not knowing where we were going, but I thought it was a very good performance for the first run of the year.”

Watch The Fire secure back-to-back Middleton Stakes wins

See The Fire York’s Al Basti became the first double winner of the Equiworld Dubai Middleton Fillies Stakes while defending his title in taking fashion.

An impressive 12-length winner of this race last year, Andrew Balding’s five-year-old was sent off the 5-6 favorite and bounced back with victory in the Nottinghamshire Oaks last month.

It was Fallen Angel who led them to a decent pace, with Oisin Murphy at pains to hold off the defending champion, who was always in the slipstream of Carl Burke’s multiple Group One winners.

The race developed in earnest entering the home straight and while it briefly looked like Charlie Appleby’s Diamond Rain had run to the inside of the first Fallen Angel, See The Fire produced a deft turn on the dash for home to prove victorious by three-quarters of a length.

The Red Letter of Ger Lyons completed the runners-up spot, with Diamond Rain’s effort eventually finishing third.

The Coronation Cup at Epsom marks the next assignment for the impressive five-year-old horse.

“It’s a great decision (to keep her in training) because she’s such a nice filly to have in the yard and I think she’s the first filly to win the Middleton twice,” said Anna Lisa Balding, who represents her husband.

“I saw the first two furlongs were 14 seconds or something, but Oisin just got off him and said he was an absolute machine. He said he felt he was going to win all the way, so I’m delighted.

“He obviously won the race very impressively last year and you never know if he’s going to come back and do it again, but he’s doing some nice things at home.

“He’s not easy to train with so I think it’s a big credit to the team at Kingsclare.

“He’s got an entry in Epsom (Coronation Cup) and who knows what will happen, but it’s going to be a long season ahead.

“It’s often his (owner Jeff Smith’s) decision, he decides where everything goes, fingers crossed he has another big one.”

Barry Mahon, racing manager for Juddmont, owners of Red Letter, said of the runner-up’s performance: “It was a step up, but as Colin (Keane) said it turned into a five-furlong sprint that didn’t suit him.

“He’s a very good filly and we’re delighted with that. I’m racking my brain about what’s next, but today was the plan and we’ll look at the book.

“I’d say a mile or 10 furlongs is fine, there’s the Duchess of Cambridge at Ascot, but we’ve got the Blue Bolt for her, so we’ll see, it’s unlikely we’ll run both.”

Appleby has high hopes for Diamond Rain, who could make another trip across the Atlantic among his goals.

“I’m very pleased, obviously you can see she’s a big girl so you want to run her fit rather than her being fit,” Appleby said.

“His program is very early at the end of the summer. We will probably work back from something in America, but I want to try to win a European Group One with him and if there is the right target, that will be our plan. But we know, he has managed well in America so we want to see that way.”

Burke was “very pleased” with Fallen Angel after her reappearance before Royal Ascot.

“We wanted to get a run with him before Ascot, but he can only run at Ascot if the field is good or slow. We were desperate to get a run with him, it was either going to France next week or coming here which is on his doorstep and as it happens, the weather went our way,” he said.

“He ran well and I think we, in hindsight, could have gone faster and made it more of a test because he was in a really good position again in the last 100 yards. I still think he will be a mile and two, but he probably wasn’t fit enough today, so it will hold his place.

“He’ll go Group Two at Ascot (Duke of Cambridge Stakes) and all those miles for the fillies race. I wouldn’t rule out going over a mile or two again depending on the ground, if those Group Ones come up on ground faster than a mile we don’t want to go. He’ll go all Group One, but we’re a very satifi race.”