Derby

On the 15th anniversary of the passing of Vincent O'Brien, his successor at Ballydoyle, Aidan O'Brien, extended his record at Epsom to 10 wins in the Derby. Vincent O'Brien's daughter and son-in-law Sue and John Magnier were not at Epsom on Saturday but several of the late, great trainer's grandchildren were in the winner's circle to greet City Of Troy. Their own family is now so strongly enmeshed with the man who shares their grandfather's surname but is no relation to the creator of Ballydoyle. Just like City Of Troy,...

Deira Mile (Ire) could be pointed towards the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby after his fourth-placed effort in the Epsom Classic. The Owen Burrows-trained Camelot (GB) colt was fourth in the Futurity Trophy last season and began this year with a taking four-length victory in a Windsor novice. At Epsom he stepped up to a-mile-and-a-half for the first time and started at 28-1 for the Betfred-sponsored Derby, where he was ridden by Jim Crowley and drawn in stall 14 of 16. Though the running of the race did not favour...

Roger Teal is eyeing up a crack at the Coral-Eclipse for Dancing Gemini (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) who ran with credit to finish sixth in the Derby on Saturday. Having already run a huge race this season to be an unlucky second in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains, Dancing Gemini was stepping up to a mile-and-a-half for the first time at Epsom. Drawn in stall 15, Dylan Browne McMonagle had to take his medicine and found himself at the back of the pack before working his way into contention with a...

EPSOM, UK -- This is what vindication looks like: a usually composed superstar trainer with a hint of tears in his eyes, his chest heaving, the emotion a bit too much. City Of Troy was Aidan O'Brien's 10th Derby winner - but this one felt different. It would be ludicrous to say his credibility was on the line, but his words certainly were, and perhaps his judgment, at least in relation to last year's No 1 two-year-old, whose balloon had popped three furlongs out in the 2,000 Guineas. O'Brien has...

EPSOM, UK -- Ryan Moore wouldn't admit to sleepless nights ahead of the Derby despite some intense speculation regarding his mount but he did concede, "It's the one race of the year that you want to win." Moore kept the faith, kept his head, and just like that Coolmore has another enticing stallion prospect.  The legend of Galileo still stalks the Epsom Downs some three years after the horse's death, and there he was again, as the broodmare sire of this year's Derby winner City Of Troy, just as he...

Imagine a world in which British racing's problems have been solved. There is plenty of prize-money to go round, at least 12 runners in every race, attendance figures are up, the Cheltenham Festival has returned to three days and the Derby to a Wednesday.  Okay, let's not be completely fanciful. The four-day Festival is here to stay, as is the Saturday Derby, but if you spend an hour in a room with Jockey Club chief executive Nevin Truesdale, you may leave it feeling that some of the other items on...

The common man or woman rarely owns a Derby winner but they are peppered across the 244-year history of what Disraeli called 'the Blue Riband of the Turf.' The race tends to be exclusive, but the urge to win it was always universal. The finest challenges in sport go beyond financial incentive to the Corinthian urge to achieve victory for its own sake. This year, we scan the field for a romantic outcome knowing there will probably be a familiar one. Despair not. It was always thus, and the wealthy...

Aidan O'Brien has issued a positive bulletin on his big hopes for Classic glory at Epsom, with Betfred Derby favourite City Of Troy (Justify) and Oaks market leader Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}) reported in good spirits. City Of Troy must bounce back from a disappointing display in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket where he trailed home in ninth behind Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). However, he was an odds-on shot for that contest on the back of last year's sensational juvenile exploits, which featured an ultra-impressive Dewhurst triumph, and...

NEWMARKET, UK -- It's Alex Cairns's day off but he's at the car park next to the Limekilns at 7.30 on Sunday morning. "If I can't do this for a Derby horse when would I do it?" he says as he awaits the arrival of the Derby second-favourite Ambiente Friendly (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}). Cairns is head lad to the colt's trainer James Fanshawe. He chats to Rab Havlin. The pair both hail from the same west Scottish town of Saltcoats but Newmarket has long been their home.  Havlin was appointed...

The six-length G2 Dante S. winner Economics (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) will not be supplemented for the Betfred Derby a week on Saturday with trainer William Haggas fearing the Classic test will come too soon.  The long-striding chestnut colt, owned by Isa Salman Al Khalifa, ran just once at two last November and returned in late April to win a Newbury maiden before heading to York on May 16.  Economics had been taken out of the Derby entries before the Dante but had been listed as second-favourite for Epsom...

EPSOM, UK -- The names Morston (GB) and Lammtarra were being bandied about as Voyage (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) stepped onto the track at Epsom on Tuesday morning. In 1974 and 1995 respectively, that pair came to the Derby on the back of one run, but what they lacked in experience they made up for in brilliance.  Voyage's trainer Richard Hannon has had two previous runners in the Derby, the 2021 runner-up Mojo Star (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Humphrey Bogart (Ire) (Tagula {Ire}), who finished fifth five years earlier. ...

EPSOM, UK -- Some may not find an overcast morning in the middle of a deserted racecourse all that exciting but more fool them. Because all around the Epsom Downs the small temporary village that by this time next Friday will constitute the base for the Betfred Derby Festival is gradually being constructed and the sense of occasion is rising.  But of course there's no Derby without horses, and four potential contenders for the race that remains the highlight of every Flat season gained an early sighter of the course...