Derby favourite Mars makes winning debut at Dundalk
Aidan O’Brien’s juvenile, Mars, pushed the bookmakers to shorten him for next year’s Investec Derby, following an outstanding debut at Dundalk. The 2-year-old did not face any trouble in outsmarting the opposition in Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders
Fund Maiden, held on Monday, July 16th.
Soon after starting the affair, the 4-7 favourite established his supremacy. On a standard track, he ran very well to keep the rest of the crew under tremendous pressure. In the hands of Joseph O'Brien, the novice went across the rail and took a handsome
lead in middle stages of the 7-furlong contest.
He was well in command, when The Ferryman almost joined him a couple of furlongs before the wire. However, the champion runner shifted his gears to retain his advantage in a great fashion.
He gained a handsome lead inside the final furlong, and following a tremendous effort, he defeated his stablemate by 4¾ lengths. Under Seamie Heffernan, O’Brien’s 2-year-old bay colt was not impressive in the beginning, but an excellent effort steered him
to a notable place in the final moments.
Despite the fact that he tried his best, it was almost impossible for him to make any impression on the winner. My Rules ended up third by 2¾ lengths. He was completely unable to create any mess for O’Brien’s leading pair.
The rider expressed delight over his runner’s fantastic debut, and lavished special praise on Mars. He said after the race:
"He has a really good attitude and is very uncomplicated. We have been waiting a while for a bit of nice ground. He would have had no problem starting off over six (furlongs).”
"He's a lovely horse. He was green as it's his first run and he made the running - you very rarely see them win on the bridle doing that."
Paddy Power quickly reacted to the outcome, and declared Mars the 12-1 favourite for next year’s Derby. The bookie said:
"Mars first entered our solar system in the middle of June when we put him in our Derby betting and gallop watchers with telescopes who snapped up the fancy prices will be laughing after that debut."
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