A crowd of 125,000 was on hand Saturday at Epsom Downs to witness 13-8
favorite Golden Horn (Cape Cross) take the 236th running of the Derby (Eng-G1)
under jockey Frankie Dettori. It is the highest one-day crowd at a British sporting
event.
The Derby was first contested in 1780 and is the third-oldest classic race,
behind only the St Leger
(Eng-G1), which was first run in 1776, and the Oaks in 1779.
Trainer John Gosden saddled a memorable one-two in the Derby, fulfilling a dream for Anthony Oppenheimer, who owned and bred
the winner.
Ridden by Frankie Dettori, Golden Horn beat stablemate
Jack Hobbs (Halling) by 3 1/2 lengths, with the William Haggas-trained Storm the
Stars (Sea the Stars) another 4 1/2 lengths back in third. The bay colt finished
1 1/2 miles on the good-to-firm turf in 2:32.32 to claim the third-fastest
recorded time in the race. Workforce set the record of 2:31.33 in 2010, while
Lammtarra was second fastest in 1995 with a time of 2:32.31.
“The crowd got him a bit excited before the race,” Dettori remarked. “The horse
wanted to run for me today so, for the first two or three furlongs, we had a
slight argument and that’s why I took him back a bit. I didn’t want him to race
that much.
“I was convinced that he would stay but everything that everyone was saying
started to play with my mind a bit. I had Giovanni Canaletto (Galileo) in front of me and Jack Hobbs in front of him and they were the two horses who I
thought I had to beat.
“I knew I could beat the others. Everything then went
exactly to plan. John’s last words to me before we went out were ‘be cool, take
your time’ and, at one stage, I thought I might have overdone it a bit!
“He hit a flat spot but, when I gave him a crack, he took
off and when I got upsides Jack Hobbs, I knew that I had won. I then went numb
the last few yards in shock and disbelief that I was going to win the Derby.”
Dettori lit up the Epsom Downs winner’s enclosure
with his trademark “flying dismount” after taking his second Derby in his 20th
try. The 44-year-old first won the race with Authorized
in 2007.
“I thought the horse was quite keen early in the race and took Frankie on,
but he dropped him in and it was fine. The last thing I said to him beforehand
was ‘ride a cool race’ and he did just that. He waited and waited,” said Gosden,
who trained Benny The Dip to win the big race in 1997.
“Jack Hobbs has run a superb race — he was beautifully
balanced by (jockey) William (Buick) down the hill and into the straight, and all being
well he can run in the Irish Derby (Ire-G1), but I thought Frankie gave the winner a
great ride. What a horse!”
Oppenheimer, who owns Hascombe & Valiant Stud near
Newmarket, agreed to pay a £75,000 supplementary entry fee to the Derby after his colt won
the Dante S. (Eng-G2) at York last month. Golden Horn, who was once offered
for sale at public auction but failed to find a buyer, is now four-for-four in
his career having earned £931,409. He broke his maiden last October at
Nottingham and opened his sophomore campaign with a victory in Newmarket’s
Feilden S. prior to the Dante.
“It’s such a thrill — it’s amazing!” Oppenheimer enthused. “We can hardly
believe it. I have all my family here which makes it so special. I have to thank
all my staff at the stud, who are watching on television. In particular I want
to thank Roy Gedge, my former stud groom who retired about 18 months ago. He
brought this horse into the world.
“Once he won the Dante, I didn’t take much persuading to
supplement him for Epsom. At the end of the Dante, he wasn’t stopping and that
race is a little bit over one mile, two furlongs so I thought that we’re nearly
at one mile, three furlongs, it’s a bit of a no-brainer to go for the best race
in the world. So we said off you go. I had total confidence in both trainer and
jockey.
“It’s been my ambition to breed and own a Derby winner,” he added. “My
father (Sir Philip) was very keen on racing and breeding and I joined him some
30 to 35 years ago, but we have been trying longer than that. My father raced a
horse called Pelerin in the Derby — he was left at the start but finished
fourth. We’ve made up for that now, and it’s more exciting because we’ve been
trying for so long. I’m not getting any younger.”
Haggas was thrilled with Storm the Stars finishing a
staying on third. The bay was prominent throughout and stayed on with purpose to
finish behind Golden Horn and Jack Hobbs.
“He was very good there. He’s come on again and he’s run a great race
from a good position. I’m delighted. He’s kept going and I’m thrilled,” Haggas
said. “He’s been beaten by two horses that were quicker than him.
You’d have to say he could make up into a St Leger horse but it’s difficult to
make decisions at this moment in time. The horse is getting better and better
and that’s what pleases me most. He’s a well bred horse and, if we look after
him, he’ll keep improving. He’s run very well.”
Aidan O’Brien’s trio of runners in the Derby
all look likely to step up in trip after running creditably behind runaway
winner Golden Horn. Giovanni Canaletto fared best for the Ballydoyle handler,
finishing a staying on fourth 10 lengths behind the winner. Lingfield Derby
Trial winner Kilimanjaro (High Chaparral) stayed on past beaten horses to finish
sixth. Hans Holbein (Montjeu) raced a close second before tiring to finish
seventh.
Two races before the Derby, trainer Richard Hannon was wreathed in smiles following the
victory of Pether’s Moon (Dylan Thomas) in the Coronation Cup (Eng-G1) at Epsom.
The 11-1 shot was given a peach of a ride by Pat Dobbs, who
was riding his first Group 1 winner, and the pair got up in the shadows of the
post to record a neck victory over 8-11 favorite Dolniya (Azamour).
Hannon was quick to praise Dobbs following the race.
“John Manley, the owner, feels the horse goes really well
for Pat which is why he rode him,” Hannon said. “Our jockeys have got big boots to fill next season (due to
the retirement of stable jockey Richard Hughes at the end of the season) and we
need to have people in place that the owners have confidence in and like and
Pat’s done his chances no harm at all with a ride like that.
“Pat has given him a super ride. He does pull up in front — he did that in
Turkey — and Hughsie has ridden some lovely races on him as well but he really
goes for Dobbsy. I thought that we were going to be lucky to be second at one
stage.
“John has always wanted a good horse, they are very hard to
find and that’s why people have offered so much money for (Pether’s Moon),” he
added. “He has really
enjoyed this horse — he is on the phone all of the time, he picks a lot of the
races himself and Pether’s Moon could go to Melbourne but I don’t know.
Dobbs, 37, a freelance rider who has long been associated
with the yard run by Richard Hannons Senior and Junior in Wiltshire, hails from
County Wexford. He has ridden a number of key winners for the Hannons, but never
before at the top level.
“He was very good
there — he has loads of speed, but he just pulls himself up when he gets to the
front, so even though I got to the lead I had to keep him going in the last 50
yards. He’s very honest and relaxed, and I just wanted cover for as long as
possible,” Dobbs said of Pether’s Moon.
“He’s run some good races, and he goes on any ground, but I
wasn’t sure he would handle the track. When you have a horse that is going
forward they make room for themselves and can get out of places — it’s the bad
ones that you can’t get a run on.
“It’s well worth the wait (for a Group 1 win), but I didn’t think we
could beat the two French horses (Dolniya and Flintshire [Dansili], who
were second and third, respectively). “
Dolniya, who won the Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-G1) at Meydan in her last start, is trained in France by Alain De Royer Dupre.
“With four runners you have a tactical race and we had to go in front. The
other horse (Pether’s Moon) had more turn of foot,” De Royer Dupre commented. “I think Dolniya’s next race will be the
(June 28) Grand Prix de
Saint-Cloud (Fr-G1]).”
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