Ageless Prendergast Gunning for Local Victory

[Wandering Eyes]

Despite this Saturday’s G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby being a fully domestic affair it will still bring together several of the main protagonists of the G1 Investec Derby where Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) edged out Madhmoon (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) by half a length with just three quarters of a length covering the first five home. The two above are among 10 horses that were left in the race on Tuesday afternoon and, while the absence of any international challengers coupled with the majority of runners coming from the same team is a slightly regrettable scenario, the race could still serve up a fairytale result should Kevin Prendergast’s Madhmoon get off the mark for the season after three commendable efforts so far.

“My best chance to ever win the Epsom Derby has probably just passed me by so, hopefully, we can gain compensation by winning the Irish Derby,” Prendergast, who is two weeks shy of his 87th birthday, said at a press briefing at The Curragh on Tuesday. Prendergast’s father, the legendary Paddy ‘Darkie’ Prendergast who was champion trainer in Britain on three occasions while based in Ireland, won the Irish Derby four times and while Prendergast junior has tasted Classic success on numerous occasions–initially in 1972 and most recently with Awtaad (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) in the G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas in 2016–a win on Saturday would crown a fantastic career and would possibly be the result the majority of those in attendance at The Curragh would be rooting for.

“Madhmoon has a battalion to beat on Saturday but he has a good chance and if he repeats his Epsom performance we could hopefully get a result,” he said. “He has been bombing since Epsom, I’m not saying he is any better but he is in great form. Aidan’s [O’Brien] team will be very hard to beat, there is very little between our horse and a few of his so if my lad gets a bit of luck in running, he should be thereabouts at the end.”

Having operated effectively around Epsom, Prendergast has little concern over Madhmoon’s first run over the Curragh turf, with all his Irish starts so far having come at Leopardstown.

“The Curragh is such a fair track, it generally gives every type of horse a chance, compared to Epsom with its twists and turns where horses are going up hills and down dales.”

Those undulations may or may not have been a factor in Madhmoon stumbling four furlongs from home at Epsom, something Prendergast certainly feels did not aid his chance, considering the narrow margins involved.

“When he stumbled it just cost him momentum and he grabbed hold of the bridle a bit sooner than I would have liked. That meant he got to the front just a shade too soon, but who knows, maybe it didn’t make any difference in the end. I imagine Chris [Hayes] will try and delay his challenge a bit more this time. Madhmoon is a strong traveller, it doesn’t matter to him if they go a strong or steady gallop. I imagine the Ballydoyle horses will dictate the gallop and we will follow along as dutiful people do.”

Not surprisingly Anthony Van Dyck is favourite to do the Epsom/Curragh double and provide Aidan O’Brien with a 13th victory in the race from 23 attempts. O’Brien revealed that Ryan Moore will take over from Seamie Heffernan aboard the Epsom victor which suggests all has been well with his preparations since then. However, one would be foolish to ignore the prospects of stablemate Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}), who ran a fantastic race to finish fourth at Epsom under the trainer’s son Donnacha who will presumably be in the saddle again on Saturday.

“Both horses have come out of Epsom fine, the ground was lovely over there and there have been no issues since,” O’Brien said. “The Curragh is probably a stiffer mile and half than Epsom, but I don’t think that will affect either Anthony Van Dyck or Broome in any way. It’s probably the fairest mile and a half in the world and there are usually no excuses.”

O’Brien has also left in Norway (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Sovereign (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Il Paradiso (Galileo {Ire}) and Western Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}) as he bids to re-establish his dominance on the race having been relegated to the runner up position last year by his son Joseph’s Latrobe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}).

“The Irish Derby is very important to us,” he said. “Epsom is the first time the top 3-year-olds come together over a mile and a half and while the demands of Epsom can sometimes have a bearing on the result, when they come back to The Curragh that is usually where the best horse wins.”

Last year’s winning connections of Joseph O’Brien and Lloyd Williams could be represented by Buckhurst (Ire) (Australia {GB}), but the younger O’Brien–speaking like his father earlier via phone-in–said the horse was uncertain to take his chance with other options available over the weekend. One respected member of the media informed those present that this was the first Irish Derby where Ireland’s elder statesmen of Kevin Prendergast, Jim Bolger and Dermot Weld each fielded a runner and while Prendergast’s horse’s credentials are clear, Bolger’s Guaranteed (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and Weld’s Rakan (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) both need to find improvement to figure.

No matter who wins, this year’s Irish Derby will most likely be won by a horse that goes on to prove an influential figure in racing and breeding; think Montjeu (Ire), Galileo (Ire), High Chaparral (Ire), Sinndar (Ire), Australia (GB) and Camelot (GB). But there is no doubt from a human interest point of view victory for a trainer the wrong side of 85 would transcend the sports pages. Prendergast’s neighbour Johnny Murtagh is one of his many admirers and insists the trainer’s positive mindset is one of his greatest attributes.

“Kevin doesn’t realise he is 87, he thinks he’s 57,” Murtagh said. “You see him on the gallops in the morning and he sprints by you and tells you what you’re doing wrong with your horses or if your jockey went too soon on one. He misses nothing either, my string were going up the other morning and one in particular went quite well and he asked, ‘What’s that?’ I told him it was just an unraced 2-year-old. But I met him two days later and he said ‘I found out that lad’s name and he isn’t an unraced 2-year-old’. Kevin is the King of The Curragh and I hope Saturday is his day.”

The post Ageless Prendergast Gunning for Local Victory appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article