21 Aug 22: Hard One To Please outclassed his rivals for a comfortable win in the Norwegian Derby, proving to be just as good - perhaps even better - on turf than he was on dirt in the Swedish Derby. Ridden by Jacob Johansen, he beat Wido Neuroth's duo Sea Lodge and Pas de Faux. I Rest My Case and Admiral de Vega were also winners on the big day, while Takeko and Youonlyliveonce added to the 'Bye Hansen show' by running second in stakes races. 

How good is this horse?

Hard One To Please. How good is this horse? One thing's for sure - he is the best three-year-old seen in Scandinavia since Square de Luynes won the Norwegian Derby in 2018. Is Hard One To Please as good as that champion? Could he be better? It's impossible to say at this stage but Hard One To Please seems to be a more complete racehorse. Whereas Square de Luynes could manage only sixth place when racing on dirt in the Swedish Derby, Hard One To Please won that classic with ease. Not many horses manage to produce their best form on turf and dirt. Hard One To Please certainly looks more like a turf horse and one can argue that his 14-length ​romp at Øvrevoll was better form than his comfortable 2-length win over Steinar in Sweden last month. And it probably was. Then again, let's not forget that Steinar went on to win the Hurricanelöpning by 11 1/2 lengths on his next outing. 

Still, the Norwegian Derby form is what makes Hard One To Please look like a bit of a freak. He was so much the best, simply humiliating Sea Lodge, a well bred filly who  proved her worth on turf, and Pas de Faux, who was coming off a 3-length win in the Derby Trial, where he beat I Rest My Case. I Rest My Case was also in action on Derby day. She won the inaugural running of Drømmemilen. All right, she was long odds-on to do so, but when she cruised home by over 15 lengths many punters pointed to one horse for the upcoming Derby; Pas de Faux. His form had just been given some boost. He's good, though nowhere near as good as Hard One To Please - who went by him with ease and quickened right away to leave the placed horses in a different county. It was his third win from four starts and his bankroll now stands at 1.936.884 kroner. His next task may be Stockholm Cup International (G3) at Bro Park next month. If he goes for that race, it will be an attempt at winning big over a third (once more quite different) course and, more importantly, a first clash with the best older horses. When that happens we can hope to get the answer to our question; how good is this horse?