Epsom Derby 2019: The tragic story of late Leicester City owner's Derby dream nears emotional conclusion

The Epsom Derby is often an emotional affair and this year will be no different if Bangkok, who was owned by the late Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, can emulate the 5000/1 Premier League miracle in 2015/16 and complete an underdog win on Saturday.

In late October 2018, the Leicester City owner, was tragically killed alongside the entire crew in a helicopter accident as he left Leicester's King Power Stadium.

The popular owner, affectionately know as ‘The Chairman’, was a racing fan and invested into the sport after overseeing Leicester’s Premier League success by buying several horses, including one called Bangkok, named after the capital city of his native Thailand.

The 8/1 shot, ridden by British Champion Jockey Silvestre de Sousa, will line up in the blue and white King Power colours that it wore at Ascot in September last year when the man who gave the colt his name was watching from his private box.

It was only as recent as 2017 that Srivaddhanaprabha decided to turn his hand to racing. He selected Andrew Balding to be his main trainer and, teaming up also with bloodstock agent Alastair Donald, initially acquired three horses: Beat The Bank, Cleonte and Donjuan Triumphant.

It was only at Champions day at Ascot in October 2018 that The Chairman first met with de Sousa having been impressed with his determination and aggression, but he would never get to see him in the saddle on one of his horses.

His decision to sign de Sousa as King Power's retained jockey inspired the family to continue the racing operation that has benefited from Srivaddhanaprabha's final racing decision.

"He had great vision and the appointment of Silvestre was very much his idea," Donald told the Racing Post. "He was determined he wanted a man for himself. We sat down to talk about jockeys and he kept saying, 'What about this guy? What about this guy?'

open image in gallery

open image in gallery

"His appointment was very much because of the chairman, which makes it so sad he isn't here to see what a great decision he made. The deal was in the process of being agreed when he died."

Bangkok stands a reasonable chance of success on Saturday after winning at Sandown and Doncaster in preparation, but trainer Balding says groundwork on the track is only a fraction of the training it takes to produce a Derby champion.

"It's not just about who is the fastest horse,” he said. “It's which horse takes the event the best, which horse can get the best position, handle the track and avoid bad luck. It's such an intense atmosphere, and you can never be sure until you see the horse has arrived at the start with his marbles intact, but I'm pretty confident he will be the right sort of horse for the race.

"I think we have very solid credentials but the thing about the Derby is it exposes chinks in a horse's armour. We don't yet know if Bangkok has any chinks. We still have a long way to go but at this stage, I couldn't be happier with the candidate we've got."

The connections of any winner in this race will treasure the emotion of a triumphant afternoon for a long time, each entry has with it a unique story behind it, that’s what makes racing so special. But, if Bangkok crosses the line first, there will not be a dry eye in the house and the touching racing story of a kind and loving man, who was so tragically taken from the people he loved, will get its deserved end.