Capri provides O'Brien with 12th Irish Derby

Aidan O'Brien continues to rewrite the record books and saddled his twelfth winner of Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby as Capri scored under Seamie Heffernan at the Curragh.

All eyes were on stablemate and 2-1 favourite Wings Of Eagles who was bidding to complete a Derby double following his Epsom victory last month and was the choice of Ryan Moore.

The John Gosden-trained Cracksman third at Epsom, was another leading player for Pat Smullen along with Andre Fabre's Waldgeist but all were trumped by Capri and Seamie Heffernan.

Sent off a 6/1 shot, the grey Galileo colt got first run, kicking on two furlongs out, and while Cracksman and Wings Of Eagles finished with purpose, Heffernan's game partner won by a neck and a short head respectively.

Capri holds on in a thrilling finale to the Irish Derby and notches a Derby double for Aidan O'Brien: pic.twitter.com/RYGLphzrC1

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) July 1, 2017

O'Brien said, O’Brien, “The three-year-olds get sorted to a point at Epsom and then when you want to get these proper mile and a half horses there is no track that can do that other than the Curragh. If you have an even pace on there is nowhere to hide.

“Seamus rode Capri in Epsom and he was very happy with him and looking forward to coming here with him. It’s the ultimate test over a mile and a half for a three-year-old colt.

“The French form (Criterium De Saint-Cloud) was there from last year, and John(Gosden)’s horse was the only one that wasn’t there. All the right horses lined up at the furlong marker, and there was nowhere to hide.

“Seamus gave him a lovely ride, and had him in a lovely position throughout. He got the mile and a half really well.

“Seamus has been a part of our family for over 20 years now. He is an amazing fella — talented, dedicated, loyal and an unbelievable rider.

“What he did today wasn’t an easy thing to do. The pace was strong up front, and he was sitting right in the eye of the storm. He had a choice how close he followed it or not to follow it, and he knew all the fancied horses were behind him. It was a masterclass from him really.

“He has great experience, he’s a great fella to deal with people, has a great way about him, and we feel privileged and delighted to be working with him every day.

“John (Magnier), Michael (Tabor) and Derrick (Smith) will have a talk about where he goes next. We were looking at Highland Reel for the King George and this horse has been busy so he might have a rest and we could think about an autumn campaign for him."

O'Brien said of Wings Of Eagles, "He ran very well and came there to go, but maybe a tough mile and a half might be as far as he wants to go - he might have just been outstayed.

"He showed a mile-and-a-quarter pace at Epsom, he came down, sprinted and finished off very quickly. He still ran very well - I thought they all ran great."

Heffernan, riding his third Irish Derby winner, said "This horse has been competing in very good races all year and the Curragh suited him. I was always comfortable in my position and we went a good gallop. He galloped all the way to the line. He stays well and tries hard.

"At Epsom I was planning to be a little bit closer, but being the track it is, I didn't jump and couldn't be that bit closer. I had to move a little bit earlier than ideal and I still ran very well. It's great that he looks like he's improving.

"The Epsom Derby is the clash of the best around and what runs in that race usually split up and win the best races around."

Smullen, who was deputising for the injured Frankie Dettori, believes Cracksman can progress again.

He said: "He ran an excellent race. He got a little bit further back than we had planned but he never really travelled through the race and showed a lot of immaturity still. He's very babyish.

"It wasn't ideal to have to come around one in the straight but I just wasn't going well enough. To his credit, he got it together and stayed on very well to the line.

"I thought when I got the better of Wings Of Eagles I had it, but the grey horse battled away well. He's run an excellent race. It's unfortunate he's got beat, but he's a horse that will only keep progressing from here on."

John Magnier strongly believes it was the right decision to run the Irish Derby at the Curragh during the current development work on a new stand saying, “I know for sure that the French horse and the English horse wouldn’t have been running in this race if it was run somewhere else. It kept the standard of the race where it should be. The Irish Derby has a great tradition.

“It would have been just a domestic affair (if it was run elsewhere). The Irish Derby has always been about getting the French, English and Irish together.”

Paddy Power and Betfair both make Capri a 6/1 chance for the St Leger, while Ladbrokes go just 3/1 (from 12/1).

(GC & AM)