Lambourn digs deep to complete Derby double
Aidan O'Brien lands a record-extending 17th win in the showpiece
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Lambourn holds off stablemate Serious Contender in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby
Lambourn dug deep to land the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh and complete a magnificent double.
Aidan O’Brien’s latest star became the 20th horse to do the Epsom/Irish Derby double in the same season, holding firm amid pressure from stablemate Serious Contender up the home straight.
It was not the same dominant display as the three-year-old produced in the English equivalent but he did enough to justify his odds-on starting price and land a record-extending 17th win in this race, including each of the last three.
Ryan Moore has been on all of them, making him the first jockey to win three Irish Derbies on the spin, and O’Brien was delighted with his latest triumph.
"He’s so relaxed, and the horse coming with him was only going to help him, and you can see he was pricking his ears all the way up the straight,” he said.
“I knew Ryan would be very happy about that as he would have been delighted to have company and would love to get into a battle.
"He could be a King George or an Arc type of horse. He gets the trip well, is very sound, very genuine.
“The way he races, I'd imagine he'd race that way regardless of the trip. You'd imagine he would get further but he obviously has lots of class."
The favourite was in the thick of the action from the outset and initially grappled with Ralph Beckett’s travelling raider Sir Danadan for supremacy.
Serious Contender joined the fray with two furlongs to go but Lambourn found something extra to pull away when it mattered and complete a weekend Group 1 double for Moore and O’Brien, who brought up their 150th top level success as a duo on Saturday.
Lazy Griff, runner-up behind Lambourn at Epsom, finished strongly to take third, with Tennessee Stud in fourth.
Lazy Griff’s trainer Charlie Johnston said: “It wasn’t an easy watch, after about half a mile I thought ‘we are not going to win’. We ended up a lot further back than where we wanted to be but he flew home.
“We were concerned about the ground coming in to the meeting and clearly softer ground would have suited him better – and another two furlongs would have suited him better. If the winner goes to the Leger, we are ready for round four.
“It’s about time this horse started getting the credit he deserves, he has been placed in two Derbies, he keeps showing he belongs at this level and that is where he will be going forwards.”