I must say I'm amazed at the entries (or rather lack of) for this Saturday's Irish Derby at the Curragh. This is a Group 1 race with a whopping €750,000 going to the winner and yet at the 5 day stage we have just two runners declared from outside Ireland, the Godolphin no-hoper Cap O'Rushes (a 95 rated handicapper) and the admirable Libertarian from the Burkes' yard.
During a purple patch in the 1980s and 1990s British trainers were regular winners of the race with the likes of Shergar, Shahrastani, Kahyasi, Old Vic, Generous, Commander In Chief and the wonder filly Salsabil taking the prize back to Britain. Commander In Chief remains the last British winner of the race, way back in 1993, and since then the French have fared best of the foreign raiders with 4 winners including Montjeu and Hurricane Run. But the last decade has seen the Ballydoyle stranglehold tighten on the Irish Derby and Aiden O'Brien has won 9 of the last 12 runnings with such greats as Galileo and High Chaparral but also more recently with beasts who would not necessarily grace the pantheon of all-time greats - Soldier Of Fortune, Frozen Fire, Cape Blanco and Treasure Beach.
O'Brien's dominance has not been mirrored in the Epsom Derby (although he has been very successful at Epsom too, with 4 of the last 13 Derby winners) so it begs the question as to whether the race has simply fallen out of favour amongst non-Irish owners, breeders and trainers? Recent Epsom Derby winners who were not trained by O'Brien have certainly tended to swerve the race - Pour Moi, Workforce, Sea The Stars, New Approach, Authorized, Sir Percy and Motivator all missed the Curragh race, either through injury, alternative engagements in the Eclipse or King George, or simply being put away for an Autumn campaign culminating in the Arc. The last Epsom Derby winner not trained by O'Brien to contest the Irish Derby was Sir Michael Stoute's North Light who was just touched off by Grey Swallow.
When I was younger and horses like Nashwan and Generous were winning the Epsom Derby, the traditional path taken seemed to be Derby - Irish Derby - King George - Arc prep race - Arc but these days there seems to be a much more tempting path in taking in the various 10F Group 1 races such as the Eclipse, Juddmonte International, Champion Stakes (and its Irish equivalent), one assumes in an attempt to convince potential future breeders that the colt's pedigree is a lethal mixture of speed and stamina.
So this Saturday's renewal is more than likely to be another Aiden O'Brien benefit with Epsom hero Ruler Of The World likely to go off a hot favourite to give his trainer an 8th consecutive victory in the race. But it's a crying shame that the opposition isn't really going to amount to much. The Irish Derby really ought to be about the best middle-distance 3YO horses from Ireland, Britain, France and even further afield, facing each other for the first time in order to give a real indication of the best of the classic generation, before the winner goes on to face older horses in the mid-summer showpiece that is the King George. The advent of the 10F Group 1 race as the "optimum path" for breeding purposes has robbed the racing world of competition in races which have been won by such stellar names over the years.
Thoughts?
During a purple patch in the 1980s and 1990s British trainers were regular winners of the race with the likes of Shergar, Shahrastani, Kahyasi, Old Vic, Generous, Commander In Chief and the wonder filly Salsabil taking the prize back to Britain. Commander In Chief remains the last British winner of the race, way back in 1993, and since then the French have fared best of the foreign raiders with 4 winners including Montjeu and Hurricane Run. But the last decade has seen the Ballydoyle stranglehold tighten on the Irish Derby and Aiden O'Brien has won 9 of the last 12 runnings with such greats as Galileo and High Chaparral but also more recently with beasts who would not necessarily grace the pantheon of all-time greats - Soldier Of Fortune, Frozen Fire, Cape Blanco and Treasure Beach.
O'Brien's dominance has not been mirrored in the Epsom Derby (although he has been very successful at Epsom too, with 4 of the last 13 Derby winners) so it begs the question as to whether the race has simply fallen out of favour amongst non-Irish owners, breeders and trainers? Recent Epsom Derby winners who were not trained by O'Brien have certainly tended to swerve the race - Pour Moi, Workforce, Sea The Stars, New Approach, Authorized, Sir Percy and Motivator all missed the Curragh race, either through injury, alternative engagements in the Eclipse or King George, or simply being put away for an Autumn campaign culminating in the Arc. The last Epsom Derby winner not trained by O'Brien to contest the Irish Derby was Sir Michael Stoute's North Light who was just touched off by Grey Swallow.
When I was younger and horses like Nashwan and Generous were winning the Epsom Derby, the traditional path taken seemed to be Derby - Irish Derby - King George - Arc prep race - Arc but these days there seems to be a much more tempting path in taking in the various 10F Group 1 races such as the Eclipse, Juddmonte International, Champion Stakes (and its Irish equivalent), one assumes in an attempt to convince potential future breeders that the colt's pedigree is a lethal mixture of speed and stamina.
So this Saturday's renewal is more than likely to be another Aiden O'Brien benefit with Epsom hero Ruler Of The World likely to go off a hot favourite to give his trainer an 8th consecutive victory in the race. But it's a crying shame that the opposition isn't really going to amount to much. The Irish Derby really ought to be about the best middle-distance 3YO horses from Ireland, Britain, France and even further afield, facing each other for the first time in order to give a real indication of the best of the classic generation, before the winner goes on to face older horses in the mid-summer showpiece that is the King George. The advent of the 10F Group 1 race as the "optimum path" for breeding purposes has robbed the racing world of competition in races which have been won by such stellar names over the years.
Thoughts?
- SIMPLES!
