Connections of Los Angeles collect the Irish Derby trophy

Will team Ballydoyle be celebrating again?

Donn McClean sets the scene for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh

By Donn McClean

Horse Racing

Sun June 29, 2025 · 6M ago

Sunday’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby will probably answer several questions. The Irish Derby usually does.

Many questions have been answered by the running of the Irish Derby down through the years. Like, can a former champion National Hunt trainer train an Irish Derby winner? (Yes, Vincent O’Brien, Chamier, 1953, and Ballymoss and Chamour and Nijinsky and The Minstrel and El Gran Senor and Law Society thereafter. Then Aidan O’Brien.)

Or, can a filly win the Irish Derby? (Yes, Gallinaria 1900, Salsabil 1990, Balanchine 1994.) Can an Epsom Derby winner win the Irish Derby? (Yes, Orby 1907, although they had to wait 57 years for the next one.) Can a Prix du Jockey Club winner win the Irish Derby? (Yes, Assert, 1982, and Old Vic and Dream Well and Montjeu.)

Or, what happens when the Hospitals Trust add £30,000 to the prize fund, and you give £50,000 to the winner and call it the Irish Sweeps Derby? (You get the richest horse race in Europe, 1962, live television coverage and everything and people hanging from the rafters.) And what happens when a winner is part-owned by a global A-lister? (Meadow Court 1965, Bing Crosby, you get a heartfelt reception and a rendition of When Irish Eyes Are Smiling in the winner’s enclosure.)

Specifically, can El Gran Senor stay a mile and a half? (Yes, 1984.) Can Desert King stay a mile and a half? (Yes, 1997.) Who is better, Alamshar or Dalakhani? (Alamshar, 2003, or he was on the day anyway, Johnny Murtagh inspired.)

And generally, who is better, the Epsom Derby winner or the Prix du Jockey Club winner? Generous or Suave Dancer? (Generous, 1991.) Teenoso or Caerleon? (Caerleon, 1983, but neither as good as King Edward VII winner Shareef Dancer.) Sinndar or Holding Court? (Sinndar, 2000.)

Sadly, we don’t get the answer to that question any more.

Irish Derby memories: Generous

Can Lambourn become the 20th horse to complete the Epsom Derby/Irish Derby double?

Aidan O’Brien’s horse is the starting point anyway. When the Epsom Derby winner lines up in the Irish Derby, he is your standard-setter, your automatic favourite these days in the normal course of events.

Of course, Lambourn sprang a bit of a surprise at Epsom. Squeezed along from flagfall by Wayne Lordan, he led before they reached the 11-furlong marker, and he didn’t see a rival after that until New Ground and Alexis Pouchin went past him after they had crossed the winning line. By then he was an Epsom Derby winner, Wayne Lordan’s first one, Aidan O’Brien’s 11th one.

The forward-going tactics that were adopted at Epsom would be a positive if they were also employed at The Curragh. But, with a couple of his lesser-fancied stable companions who like to go forward also in the line-up, will he? And will he be able to reproduce his Epsom run? Or better it?

Tennessee Stud has almost five lengths to find with Lambourn on their running at Epsom, but you can argue the case that he will at least get a little closer. He was slowly away three weeks ago, Dylan Browne McMonagle had to ride him along early, and he was always further back than ideal. He stayed on well up the home straight to take third place, just a length behind Lazy Griff in second.

Winner of the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud at the end of last season, Joseph O’Brien’s horse was second fastest through the final three furlongs of the Epsom Derby, only marginally slower than New Ground, according to RaceIQ. Of course, Lambourn had already done his running to set up his race-winning advantage, but how significant is it that Tennessee Stud was over a second faster than the winner through the final part of the race?

Epsom runner-up Lazy Griff is a player too, it is great that Charlie Johnston’s horse is making the trip, but he had a better run through the Epsom Derby than Tennessee Stud had. One and a half lengths behind Lambourn in the Chester Vase, three and three-quarter lengths behind him in the Epsom Derby. How is he going to reverse places with his old rival at The Curragh?

Tennessee Stud came from a long way back to finish third in the Derby

Pride Of Arras was well behind Lambourn at Epsom, and he was well behind Lazy Griff and Tennessee Stud too, he finished 17th of 18, but that just wasn’t his running. Maybe it was the track. He just never appeared to be happy. But it is significant that Ralph Beckett is happy to have another go at the 1-2-3 from Epsom.

Winner of his maiden at Sandown last August on his only run at two, the New Bay colt was seriously impressive in winning the Dante on his first run at three. Weak in the market before the York race, he travelled well into his race, and he showed a really good attitude to go through a narrowing gap two furlongs out, before coming away from his rivals to win well.

The early pace in the Dante was not strong, and that shouldn’t have suited Pride Of Arras. His dam’s two wins were both gained over 12 furlongs, and his half-sister Sweet Fantasy has won three times over a mile and a half and twice over hurdles, while his three-parts brother Latin Verse has won once over a mile and a half and also twice over hurdles. The fact that he had the pace to win a slowly-run Dante was impressive. He should be better suited to a strongly run 12-furlong contest at The Curragh. He has raced just three times in his life, he has lots of scope for further progression. But can he get back to the level of performance that he showed in the Dante, or can he go beyond it, and will that be good enough to win the Irish Derby?

Green Impact has scope for progression too. Jessica Harrington’s colt beat the Epsom Derby favourite Delacroix twice last season, once when he won his maiden and once when he won the Group 2 Champions Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown on Irish Champions’ Weekend.

He ran better than his finishing position in sixth place suggests on his seasonal return in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket too, when he had excuses, and he looked good last time in winning the Glencairn Stakes back at Leopardstown.

The Glencairn is a listed race run over nine furlongs, this is obviously a step up in class and a step up in distance, but Green Impact’s dam stayed 12 furlongs, and there is every chance that he will get further than nine furlongs all right. But will he get 12?

Answers forthcoming.

For more from Donn visit www.donnmcclean.com

Donn McClean sets the scene for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh

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