Hurricane Lane won the Gr1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh in dramatic fashion last weekend.
The Godolphin owned colt narrowly denied Lone Eagle in a pulsating finish where the winner made up many lengths over the last 200m to narrowly prevail by a neck.
In an eventful race where the pace noticeably slackened around the half way mark, Hurricane Lane was forced wide and had to be pushed along for a few strides rounding the turn.
Hurricane Lane wins the Irish Derby (Pic – Godlphin)
Once in the home straight, Hurricane Lane momentarily hung right under pressure whilst Frankie Dettori aboard the Martin Meade trained Lone Eagle made an early move.
At the top of the straight the wily Dettori skipped three to four lengths clear.
For a few seconds it looked decisive, but once Hurricane Lane was straightened up, Buick then got the best out of his mount and the Frankel colt finished with a sustained run. The result – an English one two with seven lengths back to Wordsworth in third and the balance trailing.
The winner did impede a few runners around the two-furlong mark, with Earlswood and Mojo Star amongst those worst effected and a steward’s inquiry was announced. The result eventually stood as the two raiders well clear of the balance, but the winning rider received a suspension.
Frankel has now sired the 2021 English and Irish Derby winners and trainer Charlie Appleby completed the Anglo-Irish Derby double with stablemate Adayar the winner at Epsom.
Commenting post-race, winning rider William Buick was most complimentary stating “This horse has done nothing but improve – and he improved since Epsom. We all know that’s not an easy thing to do. I thought halfway through the race that we’d given up our position behind Frankie a little bit, and I thought he’d get first run. Once I switched him out wide, he managed to get some clear running room and he took off. I was just praying I’d get the leader in time.”
Winning trainer Charlie Appleby now has taxing problems of a positive nature as he considers where to run his Derby hero’s. It seems likely that they will have different paths to follow for the remainder of the season. Adayar is entered for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot at the end of July, and the trainer wants to see how that unfolds before confirming plans for the Irish Derby winner. All options will be considered with the St Ledger being the most likely target. Shamrock reporting…
