RACING: Aidan O'Brien's lacklustre year took another dramatic plunge on Saturday night with Powerscourt's disqualification from first place in an incident-packed Arlington Million in Chicago.
The colt was thrown out in favour of the American horse Kicken Kris after jockey Jamie Spencer failed to correct the colt's swerve to the left on taking the lead in the straight.
That resulted in the German horse Epalo drifting on to Kicken Kris, who collided with the rail.
Powerscourt then went on to "win" comfortably, but Spencer soon knew the race wasn't over as Kicken Kris's rider, Kent Desormeaux, was gesticulating as he went by the post and shouted angrily at the Irish jockey as they pulled up.
"I would like to keep what happened down there between me and Jamie. It's a question of riders speaking to riders," said Desormeaux. "For a stride or two I thought I was going over the fence - tracks are only as safe as their riders. I was yelling from the back of my lungs."
Spencer pulled his whip through to his left hand after the incident, and while in Europe Powerscourt would probably have kept the race, with Spencer picking up a ban, there was no doubt in the US that he would be placed behind Epalo.
That left the English horse Magestretti in second, Epalo third and Powerscourt placed fourth.
"I had the best horse," Spencer said, but that will be of little consolation to the Ballydoyle team, who ended up placed in both other Grade One races in Arlington.
Necklace ran a fine race off a slow early pace to be third to the Godolphin filly Crimson Palace in the Beverly D Stakes, while Moscow Ballet couldn't cope with the odds-on favourite Kitten's Joy in the Secretariat Stakes, but did beat home the Dermot Weld-trained Simple Exchange. The Irish horses finished third and fourth respectively.
Powerscourt's Tattersalls Gold Cup triumph remains the sole Group One triumph for the O'Brien stable this year, but they will be double-handed in tomorrow's Juddmonte International, which is building up into a race to savour.
Just 10 were declared yesterday, but they include the French superstar Bago and John Oxx's St James's Palace Stakes hero Azamour, who will run despite earlier fears about the prospect of soft ground.
O'Brien will be represented by the Irish Derby third Tycoon and Solskjaer, who won the Royal Whip Stakes on his last start.
Michael Kinane warms up for the Juddmonte ride on Azamour this evening at Roscommon where his rides include Sareya in the seven-furlong fillies maiden. The Aga Khan runner was just edged at Gowran on Wednesday but should not have a problem with the drop in trip here.
The prolific Nic's Colleen is 15lb higher in the ratings for the fillies handicap compared to her last appearance at Tipperary, so a safer betting option could be Ease The Way, who has a first start since last May in the mile-and-a-quarter maiden. That start yielded a third to Cold Cold Woman and improvement should be forthcoming.
