Aidan O’Brien became the first trainer in the Derby’s 235-year history to win the Classic three years in a row last season, but for now at least, his search for a fourth colt to follow Camelot, Ruler Of the World and Australia is not proceeding entirely to plan. Gleneagles, the winner of the 2,000 Guineas on Saturday, will remain at a mile, while Sir Isaac Newton, a 12-1 chance for the Classic on Wednesday morning, proved bitterly disappointing on his three-year-old debut here a few hours later.
Sir Isaac Newton cost 3.6m guineas as a yearling and started at 1-6 to beat half a dozen opponents who had, between them, been beaten in a total of 17 starts. He showed his inexperience throughout, however, racing free and green, and while Ryan Moore made ground on the home turn to challenge Cymro, third home in a Ripon maiden on his previous start, he simply did not have the finishing speed to reel in the leader.
The bookmakers immediately pushed out Sir Isaac Newton to 25-1 for the Derby, but if O’Brien does not have two or three more credible candidates for the Classic at home, it is a very thin year in County Tipperary.
“Obviously we would have liked to have won the race,” Kevin Buckley, Coolmore Stud’s British representative, said, “but he hasn’t run since October, Aidan needed to get him to the track and this is a good, educational way of doing so. It wasn’t ideal the ground changing [due to rain] during the afternoon, he’d prefer better ground than that. We’ll get him back home, see how he is after that and then Aidan can make some decisions. It’s only his second run, and I’m sure he’ll learn a lot from it.”
It is a modern rarity for the Derby market in early May to include no O’Brien-trained runner at a single-figure price, but that is how things stand ahead of Hans Holbein’s run in Thursday’s Chester Vase, which was won two years ago by Ruler Of The World. Ballydoyle still has several more lightly raced colts with Classic pedigrees to run in trials over the next couple of weeks however, any one of which could emerge as a significant contender.
“We’ve got the rest of this week [at Chester], we’ve got Lingfield on Saturday and York next week, and John F Kennedy [who was beaten on his seasonal debut] at Leopardstown on Sunday,” Buckley said. “John F Kennedy does like better ground [than he is likely to get at Leopardstown] but we can’t do anything about the elements, sadly.
“There aren’t really [alternatives for John F Kennedy], not where it fits in the pecking order with placing other horses as well as it all comes a bit fast and furious now. I don’t know what the plans are for the Dante [next Thursday], but I’d say Order Of St George will go to Lingfield on Saturday.”
The principal Classic trial on Wednesday’s card unfolded more promisingly for the O’Brien stable as Diamondsandrubies stretched six lengths clear of her field in the Listed Cheshire Oaks.
Winners of this race often sink back into obscurity soon afterwards, but it is occasionally won by a horse with Classic potential and Diamondsandrubies, whose dam Quarter Moon finished second in both the Epsom and Irish Oaks, could yet be one of them.
The winner is now top-priced at 10-1 for the Oaks behind her stablemates Legatissimo, the 1,000 Guineas winner, and Found, who was beaten on her seasonal debut at The Curragh on Monday.
“Ryan said she gave him a realy good feel,” Buckley said. “She missed the break a little, but settled well and when he pressed the button, she really responded well. The Oaks is the likely target and she is right in that picture.”
Graham Lee, who won the Grand National on Amberleigh House in 2004, added one of the Flat season’s most competitive handicaps to his eclectic record when Trip To Paris finished strongly down the middle of the track to beat Quick Jack, the favourite, in the Chester Cup.
Ed Dunlop’s four-year-old arrived at the Roodee having won a handicap over two miles at Ripon just 11 days earlier, his first start beyond 12 furlongs, and appreciated every yard of the extra two furlongs here as he got up to win by three-quarters of a length.
“I’ve always wanted to win this race,” Dunlop said. “It’s very hard to do it, so it’s a great day. We might supplement him for the Gold Cup [at Royal Ascot] but I think we’ll wait and see. He’s got to rise in the weights to get into the Melbourne Cup this year, maybe we’ll take two [Trip To Paris and Red Cadeaux, who has been placed in the race three times] to halve the expense.”
