Charlie Appleby has an impressive record of 2 wins and 3 places from 7-runners in the Derby since 2012, but both of his winners, Masar (2018) and Adayar (2021) were not strongly fancied in the market and they both returned a 16/1 SP. Whilst the likes of Desert Crown and Stone Age have undoubtedly achieved more, the forgotten horse in the field is NAHANNI who can be backed at 20/1+ at the time of writing. He won a Leicester Novice in April that has worked out very well, with the 2nd, 3rd and 5th all winning on their next starts and increased his profile further when winning the Blue Riband trial at Epsom 2-weeks later. That course experience confirmed that he will handle the track and he had the subsequent Lingfield Derby Trial winner United Nations 2-lengths behind him in 4th. He battled on gamely on that occasion, to suggest that this step up to 12-furlongs should bring about further improvement and he has got a decent draw in stall 6. Adam Kirby, who rode Adayar to win this race 12-months ago, comes in for the ride and he has a 25.5% strike rate for the yard since 2012, at an impressive +£38.26 LSP. He might find himself outclassed, but with course experience on his side he should not be a 25/1 chance and is a solid each-way play to give his trainer a 3rd Derby win in 5 years.
