White Birch - a 22/1 shot for trainer John Murphy - won the P.W McGrath Memorial Ballysax Stakes, bursting a few bubbles in the process at Leopardstown on Sunday.
The race appeared to revolve around Aidan O'Brien, who was seeking a 12th career success in the 10-furlong Derby trial, as he sent out the top two in the betting including the much-talked-about Galway maiden winner Alexandroupolis, who was the odds-on favourite under Ryan Moore.
However, the race turned into a real slog after the Jim Bolger-trained Serious Challenge set what looked like very strong fractions, with Rory Cleary sending him for home with over three furlongs still to travel.
The O'Brien trio, made up of the aforementioned Alexandroupolis, Mohawk Chief and Denmark all gave chase but seemed to use up their gas in order to bridge the gap on the runaway leader, and it was patiently-ridden pair White Birch and Up And Under who came through to fight out the finish in the final furlong.
Up And Under, trained by Joseph O'Brien and squeezed for room briefly in the straight, looked to possibly edge his nose ahead on the inside but the twice-raced White Birch was not to be denied under a strong Shane Foley drive, the Murphy-trained Ulysses colt eventually gaining the verdict by half a length.
Antepost Epsom gamble Alexandroupolis had to settle for third, four lengths adrift of the gallant runner-up, with the pace-setting Serious Challenge back in fourth just ahead of Denmark who raced a little awkwardly throughout for Wayne Lordan.
Mohawk Chief dropped right away and was last of the six runners.
Unlimited Replays
of all UK and Irish races with our Race Replays
Discover Sporting Life Plus Benefits
Bookmakers Paddy Power and Betfair reacted by cutting the 2000 Guineas-bound Auguste Rodin to 2/1, while easing Alexandroupolis right out to 33/1, having been into single figures prior to Sunday's trial.
George Murphy, assistant trainer to his father, said: “I’m absolutely delighted with that. He relaxed lovely early on and quickened up really well.
“He got a good bump about a furlong down but he’s a very honest horse and stayed lengthening the whole way to the line. We are delighted with that and he could be very good. He’s done what we always thought he could do.
“We’ll have a chat now with the owners and make a decision on where we are going to go. We said we would learn a lot today going up to a mile and a quarter on this ground and it seemed no issue to him.
“He’s hasn’t any Classic entries but he could get some yet! We’ll see how he comes out of this and make a plan from there.
“He had a lovely run first time out in Naas on heavy ground, so we thought he’d get through it today all right. He floated around Dundalk over seven (furlongs) and showed a lot of speed, so he could be very versatile ground wise and clearly going a mile and quarter was no issue either.
“He could be a very exciting horse.”
Foley added: “It wasn’t necessarily a surprise. I’ve ridden him in his work over the last couple of weeks and I’ve really liked him. He’s a gorgeous horse. George (Murphy) was worried about coming here and going that trip, but I think you could go a mile and a half with him.
“It was a proper race, they went a proper gallop and it never let up. He’s a nice horse. I knew down around the bottom bend that I was getting to them and he actually picked up better than I expected and I ended up getting there a little bit too soon. He really is a nice horse.
“I actually fancied him coming here and then he was the outsider of the whole field. On his homework, he was working like a very nice horse. I was riding him to run well and it all worked out."
More from Sporting Life
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org
