Camelot’s Latrobe Leads Incredible O’Brien Domination of the Irish Derby

[Wandering Eyes]

Aidan O’Brien had four of the first five home in Saturday’s G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at The Curragh, but incredibly it was Joseph who took the biggest prize with the unexposed Latrobe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) in a renewal that will enter racing folklore. Sent off at 14-1 coming in off an impressive 6 1/2-length course-and-distance maiden win June 9, the Lloyd Williams colour-bearer was sent up to race close to Rostropovich (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) with Donnacha O’Brien keen to put his mount’s stamina to full effect. The leader’s rider Padraig Beggy looked for a while up the straight as if he might pull off another Derby win to add to last year’s Epsom exploits as Rostropovich gave all tenaciously against the rail, but Latrobe gained the edge inside the final furlong and stayed on the better to prevail by a half length, with the G1 2000 Guineas hero Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) just a neck back in third as the even-money favourite, 2 1/2 lengths and a half length in front of stablemates Delano Roosevelt (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and The Pentagon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) respectively. “It was so special, I was hoping all the way up the straight that one of ours wouldn’t chin him,” Aidan O’Brien said. “I’m delighted for him and Lloyd has been a massive supporter of him since the start. It’s so competitive and this is an unbelievably special day. Donnacha is a big man and we’re so grateful that they are enjoying it and are able to do it. They’ve never known anything else, they know how constant it is–it’s a seven-days-a-week job–and everyone works hard. Saxon Warrior probably travelled a bit strong and no one went so Padraig went on. That’s not the way we planned it, but that’s the way it fell. It was solid and we always had it in our mind that Saxon Warrior would go Juddmonte and Irish Champion after this–he has all the pace in the world.”

LATROBE (IRE), 126, c, 3, Camelot (GB)–Question Times (GB), by Shamardal.
O-LLoyd J Williams; B-Sweetmans Bloodstock (IRE); T-Joseph O’Brien; J-Donnacha O’Brien. €855,000. Lifetime Record: 5-2-3-0, €882,708.

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