Delacroix made light work of landing the odds in the Cashel Palace Hotel Derby Trial Stakes at Leopardstown.
Sent off the 1/3 favourite favourite on the back of a comeback success in the Ballysax over the same mile and a quarter trip at the Dublin venue, Delacroix – who had two handlers in the pre-parade and unseated jockey Wayne Lordan on the way to the start – powered home to score by two and three-quarter lengths from 11/1 chance Purview.
The race was set up perfectly for Lordan, Aidan O’Brien stablemate Rock Of Cashel taking the five-runner field along before Delacroix quickened into the lead on the turn for home with around two furlongs to travel.
The son of Dubawi skipped away from his rivals, with the inexperienced Dundalk maiden winner Purview the one to try and bridge the gap. He stuck to his task admirably in defeat, but Delacroix was in a different class and bookmakers Sky Bet clipped his odds for the Betfred Derby at Epsom next month.
Sky Bet’s Michael Shinners said: “We’ve gone 4/1 from 6/1 about Delacroix after another impressive trial success. Aidan O’Brien has dominated all of the recent trials and the last big one is obviously the Dante at York, where we’ll get to see The Lion In Winter return to action. He remains our market leader at 11/4 but Delacroix looks a big player now too and he's 4s alongside the 2000 Guineas winner, Ruling Court."
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Regarding the pre-race antics, Lordan said on Racing TV: "He jumped off a bit quick with me, we headed for the rail and I didn't really have much time to stop. He just jinked at the wrong time but I held onto him, thank God.
"He improved a lot from his last run here and felt like he was in good form at home so it wasn't surprising to me to see how he was in here (parade ring). He's well in himself this horse.
"We've gone down to the start and the race worked beautifully. He has a cruising speed and he can quicken so I was comfortable and I hit the line good.
"He has some class so you can think about it (Betfred Derby) for him. We've loads of horses who can fit so they can all find their own slots."
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