Cape Blanco an eighth Irish Derby winner for Aidan O’Brien
Aidan O’Brien maintained his stranglehold of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby with a fifth successive victory when Cape Blanco led a clean sweep for the stable.
The Ballydoyle trainer had strength in numbers as he attempted to win his first Classic of what has been an uneven season judged by his standards. He saddled half of the 10-runner field at the Curragh following the morning withdrawal of Chabal after the Godolphin team decided that the ground was too fast for their colt.
Bright Horizon and At First Sight were in the race to ensure that the pace was fast enough and they were rushed up to take the lead from the stalls. Sean Levey had Bright Horizon probably a dozen lengths clear of At First Sight at halfway but the two front runners were caught by stable companion Midas Touch at the home turn.
Midas Touch appeared to be going well for Colm O'Donoghue, who may have thought that he might have been about to profit from stable jockey Johnny Murtagh picking the wrong O’Brien horse. Even Murtagh had said before the race that it had been a difficult decision to pick Cape Blanco, especially after his poor run when only 10th in the Prix Du Jockey Club at Chantilly last time out.
But now Murtagh was easing Cape Blanco into contention, as Monterosso briefly threatened for Frankie Dettori. However, the big challenge to Cape Blanco was much closer to home. As Cape Blanco collared Midas Touch at the two-furlong market, Jan Vermeer, the fifth O’Brien-trained horse, got a run up the rail for Seamus Heffernan as the three pulled clear.
Cape Blanco may lack some of the brilliance of Ballydoyle’s all-time best, but there was no doubting his resolution – or the stamina that some had believed was suspect – as he beat Midas Touch by a half-length with Jan Vermeer in third.
Cape Blanco was an eighth Irish Derby winner for O’Brien, a record fifth in succession and another first three, matching his feat of 2002 and 2007. As ever the trainer was quick to spread the plaudits. “Johnny gave him a brilliant ride. The last day was the only blip on this horse’s card and we couldn’t understand it. Maybe it was the travel, a first day away in the heat. Something upset him and it wasn’t the horse that we knew. But he left it all behind today and all the courage and class is there that we all saw before. It’s great for everybody and I’m delighted to be part of it. All the horses ran great and it credit to all the lads to get them here.”
O’Brien likes to leave his options open but nominated the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth – and a clash with the Derby winner, Workforce – as a next possible target for Cape Blanco, who beat Workforce by three-and-a-quarter lengths in the Dante Stakes at York in May.
Mark Johnston, who had two other winners on the card, was disappointed at fourth place for Monterosso who had been supplemented for the race after winning the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot nine days previously. “You have to be honest and say we didn’t come to be fourth. I said beforehand I wouldn’t be pleased with just being placed – we came wanting to win," the trainer said.
“But, at the same time, no excuses at all. Frankie said it’s either just a bridge too far and we’re expecting too much of him – and may be when I go back and look at the form against the other horse who ran at Ascot may be we’ll say that’s his form. Or, hopefully, it did come a little bit too soon and there’s more to come from him late in the year.”
Murtagh stood for the presentation pictures wearing a plaster across the bridge of his nose, the most vivid sign from a dramatic incident during the first race on the card when he took a crashing fall. He was leading the race on Petronius Maximus when the horse jinked and slipped as his hind legs appeared to give way under him. The horse smashed through the plastic running rail – thankfully not suffering serious injury - and Murtagh hit the ground head first.
Medical staff rushed to the rider’s aid but he walked back to the weighing room with O’Brien and rode in the next race, the Group Three Dubai Duty Free Sapphire Stakes in which Glamorous Spirit led from the start and held off the determined late challenge of Reverence.
The English runners dominated, taking the first five places and it was the same story in the Group Three ladbrokes.com Railway Stakes in which the Jeremy Noseda-trained Formosina got the better of a three-way battle with Samuel Morse and Clondinnery to win by a short-head.
http://www.senore.com/Plumania-takes-Grand-Prix-De-Saint-Cloud-a13933
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