Aidan O’Brien completed a remarkable Group 1 clean sweep at Epsom over the weekend with wins in the Coronation Cup, Oaks, and the Derby.
With these victories the Ballydoyle maestro is now odds-on to secure this season’s UK trainers’ title.
It was another good weekend for trainer Aidan O’Brien (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
The blue riband race on the Flat, the Betfred Derby was won emphatically by Lambourn, a Coolmore homebred.
Described by his trainer as an uncomplicated horse, this son of 2014 Epsom hero Australia teamed up with Ballydoyle number two Wayne Lordan to eclipse his 17 rivals in sensational fashion and secure the 246th Epsom Derby.
Making all the running, Lambourn was doing it easily downhill and into the home straight and, while the likes of eventual runner-up Lazy Griff and the strong-travelling Midak at one stage looked poised to challenge, they never managed to get within striking distance of the winner.
As his stride lengthened, Lambourn’s lead extended and he finished three and three-quarter lengths clear of the runner-up, Lazy Griff.
“He’s a lovely genuine horse, but when I jumped out, I was anxious to get him out and into his stride because I know he stays well,” said Lordan.
“I just wanted to see the three-furlong pole so I could get going on him because I knew whatever was going to go by me would have to deserve to get by me and stay. When I got a flick into him passing the two, he went forward, and I knew that if I gave him another one, he’d go forward again. He was still galloping strong in that last furlong.”
Aidan O’Brien revealed that Lordan had been champing at the bit to ride both Friday’s narrow Oaks runner-up Whirl and Lambourn heading into the Derby meeting.
“Wayne rides him in all his work, and, after his last piece, he told me he’s absolutely there,” said O’Brien, who was winning the Derby for a record-extending 11th time.
O’Brien noted: “Lambourn is a brave horse who stays well, and Wayne [Lordan] gave him a great ride, he kept going really well. We’ll see how he is but at the moment, you’d be thinking of going to the Irish Derby next.”
When asked whether he could be a St Leger contender, O’Brien said: “He definitely could stay further. The way his mind is and how relaxed he is, there’s a good chance he could.”
On Friday, Jan Brueghel kicked off the Ballydoyle Group 1 haul in the Coronation Cup, showing all the resolution that was a hallmark of his unbeaten three-year-old campaign. The St Leger winner pulled out all the stops to repel the challenge of odds-on favourite Calandagan and prevail by half a length.
The King George could now be on the agenda, depending on how Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Los Angeles’s season progresses.
“We were delighted with him at Epsom,” said O’Brien.
“The King George could be an option, but it depends really on Los Angeles. He’s going to the Prince of Wales’s first and if he goes to the King George then Jan Brueghel won’t go there, but it’s a possibility. Los Angeles is the boss at the moment, and they will have to follow where he’s not going.”
Later that afternoon, O’Brien saddled the first two home in the Oaks, in which Minnie Hauk got the better of a protracted duel with Whirl, eventually getting up by a neck at the line under Ryan Moore.
Unbeaten in her last three starts, the Frankel filly gave O’Brien his 11th Oaks and, like Lambourn, could attempt the Epsom-Curragh double this month when she would become the 17th filly to follow up in the Irish equivalent.
“We felt Minnie Hauk improved a lot since Chester, while Whirl was a very good winner of a Musidora which is a very good trial, and she got the mile and a half well. When Minnie Hauk got there, she was very green. When Ryan went to go past Wayne, she just felt it difficult on the track and she changed her legs and rolled, but that’s always very possible at Epsom.”
“The Irish Oaks is definitely a possibility for her, and we’ll see with Whirl.”
