Reaction and analysis: Aidan O'Brien wins eighteenth Irish Derby at the Curragh

The strains of ‘No Scotland, No Party’ are fading as the Tartan Army wend their managerless way home from a fruitless World Cup.

But a colourful Curragh crowd were just hitting their stride as The Tumbling Paddies took the stage after racing on Sunday and ‘No Aidan, No Derby’ was the theme yet again as the relentless AP O’Brien landed Ireland’s most cherished Classic for the eighteenth time.

Yes, you read that correctly.

The man who marshals Ballydoyle’s elite troops has won the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at a scarcely believable sixty per cent clip since his first success as a fresh-faced 27-year-old in 1997 and BENVENUTO CELLINI carved his place in racing history by getting the best of a sustained battle with stablemates CHRISTMAS DAY and PIERRE BONNARD.

Ryan Moore could have been forgiven for jumping ship to Christmas Day after what happened at Epsom three weeks ago, but Aidan delivered one of the more memorable quotes of the day before the race when saying “Ryan was very steadfast."

And Moore was simply fast in the early stages, seizing an inside gap offered by Rossa Ryan on the inexperienced Raaheeb and then coaxing his partner to a long, sweeping run on the outer that helped banish memories of that unfortunate leg over incident on the Downs.

O’Brien polished another potential star when the superbly bred ALPHA ran away with the opener, while local hero BIG GOSSEY cemented his warrior status with a thrilling tenth course success in the Listed Dash and PURVIEW provided further light in a chequered season for Dermot Weld with a decisive success in the G3 International Stakes.

But one race defines this three-day Festival, so what does Aidan’s latest Classic success - his eighth in as many weeks – say about the state of the Irish Derby as a whole?

It reminds us that the French have largely given up hope of beating the maestro on his home patch, with subsequent Arc hero Waldgeist the last to try when fourth back in 2017.

It suggests Big John Goz has lost his Kildare map having not had a runner since the mighty Cracksman reversed Epsom form with Wings of Eagles under the late Pat Smullen in the same renewal only to find his Ballydoyle stablemate CAPRI just too strong for Big Money Heff.

And perhaps, most of all, it tells us that breeding, feeding and a heathy dose of seasoning are the keys to Aidan’s Derby domination recipe.

Yes, he gets a long line of impeccable pedigrees to work with; and his young prospects are fed and watered by a world-class team of backroom staff who are becoming increasingly familiar as Aidan rattles off the names of “Ronan, Rory and Rachel etc etc” after every major success.

But the seasoning, with horses bred for middle distances being conditioned to aim as high as possible as juveniles, should never be underestimated in this debate.

Raaheeb was an immature schoolboy with just two runs behind him on Sunday, while the trio who beat him had six (yes, I am counting Epsom) seven and seven apiece.

And having so many hardened pros to go to war with – allied to the reduction in elite international competition – means that Ballydoyle are now able to dominate their home Derby with horses who are often very good yet far from great.

Remember supposed pacemaker SOVEREIGN upsetting Epsom winner Anthony Van Dyck at 33/1 in 2019 or SANTIAGO leading home a Coolmore 1-2-3-4 in 2020 before being beaten on all six subsequent starts?

GUS RODIN was much more like it in 2023, albeit helped by a subdued Heff on Adelaide River, but few would suggest LOS ANGELES and LAMBOURN were exceptional and the Timeform ratings they recorded at the Curragh pale compared with those achieved by earlier Aidan aces like GALILEO (130), HIGH CHAPARRAL (127), DYLAN THOMAS (127), SOLDIER OF FORTUNE (129) and FAME AND GLORY (130).

Cynics may suggest that any great contest loses some of its lustre if one trainer exerts an overwhelming influence, but the flip side of that coin is to ponder on how threadbare this grand old race would look without Ballydoyle backing nowadays.

John Oxx is retired, while Aidan’s former boss Jim Bolger and old foe Weld are nothing like the forces of old, and Charlie Appleby’s horses blow hot and cold in a way that is rare and puzzling for a top yard.

Add in the fact that Big John seems to have lost his appetite for Irish away games and it all adds up to much more of the same unless Joseph can continue his impressive progress.

AO’B doesn’t do reminiscing, so thoughts will soon turn to CONSTITUTION RIVER and a bid to make it five Coral-Eclipses in six years next weekend.

How to take down the imperious OMBUDSMAN and his twin trainers will be another topic of conversation in the Ballydoyle boot room, but the lads and lasses back at the Curragh spent Sunday evening reminiscing as they boogied to a medley of gold hits.

I’m not sure whether The Tumbling Paddies got round to a stirring rendition of ‘No Aidan, No Derby’ as the party hotted up inside the grandstand.

But the man they were toasting has earned his stripes at the highest-level time and time again. The greatest trainer of modern times, perhaps all time, is at the peak of his powers aged 56.

And the way things are going – with four Derby wins in a row and six of the last eight – a seven-nation army couldn’t hold him back.

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