Fresh from a 10th leading rider title at Royal Ascot, Ryan Moore will go into next Sunday’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh hoping to fill the final hole in his Classic CV.
Moore is set to team up with the Epsom hero Auguste Rodin, who is a 2-5 favourite to become the 19th horse to complete the Derby double.
The English jockey, acclaimed as a “superstar” by Auguste Rodin’s trainer Aidan O’Brien, has had 11 previous rides in Ireland’s premier Classic but failed to score each time.
It is the single glaring omission on his Classic haul in both England and Ireland.
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Moore has won both Guineas and the Leger at the Curragh on three occasions. He has also twice been successful in the Oaks.
Auguste Rodin brought his Derby tally in England to three, along with four victories each in the Oaks and 1,000 Guineas, a pair of successes in the 2,000 Guineas, and two in the Doncaster Leger.
He is not the first big-name rider to find the Curragh Derby elusive. It took Mick Kinane 18 goes before finally securing it on Galileo in 2001.
The form of Auguste Rodin’s Epsom victory was boosted significantly during Royal Ascot.
King Of Steel, a half-length runner-up four weeks ago, landed Friday’s King Edward VII Stakes. Waipiro, who finished sixth at Epsom, emerged on top in the previous day’s Hampton Court Stakes.
Both the third and fourth at Epsom, White Birch and Sprewell, are likely to renew rivalry at the Curragh, although the shape of the race will become clearer at Tuesday’s latest acceptance stage.
It’s the first time the Irish Derby will be run on a Sunday since 2011 after a switch to a Saturday date yielded mixed results. The prize fund has also been boosted by €250,0000 to an overall €1.25 million.
The last horse to complete the Derby double was Dermot Weld’s Harzand in 2016 when he edged out Moore’s mount Idaho.
That’s one of a number of near misses in the race for a rider widely acclaimed as the best in the world right now.
Anthony Van Dyck was also runner-up for Moore in 2019 behind his 33-1 stable companion Sovereign. He has been third on three occasions including on board Saxon Warrior behind the 2018 winner Latrobe.
Moore could hardly approach Sunday’s highlight in a more confident frame of mind having ridden half a dozen winners at Royal Ascot.
He wound up the world-renowned meeting on Saturday with victory on Joseph O’Brien’s Dawn Rising in the Queen Alexandra Stakes, the longest contest on the flat racing calendar.
It brought the Irish tally for the week to a dozen with Aidan O’Brien’s four winners earning him a 12th leading trainer prize. He also overtook Michael Stoute as Royal Ascot’s winning-most trainer and now stands on 85 career successes there.
O’Brien, who holds a record 14 Irish Derby victories, acclaimed his No 1 jockey and said: “Ryan is a superstar, that’s the word that describes him best.”
Moore’s own Ascot tally now stands at 79, just two behind Frankie Dettori who ended his final Royal meeting with four winners. The Italian, 52, is set to retire at the end of this season.
Moore paid fulsome tribute to his friend and rival.
“He’s still going to be around for a while yet, but I remember Frankie riding for my grandfather years ago.
“He’s the most beautiful rider you will ever see – if you want to build a jockey, that’s how you build one.
“He’s an unbelievable talent and he’s a tough boy as well. He’s always wanted to be at the top and he’s stayed there for 35 years – that takes some doing,” he said.
Sunday’s final leg of the three-day Irish Derby festival will be part of the Tote World Pool.
The world’s largest commingled pool run by the Hong Kong Jockey Club produced record turnover at Ascot in Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.
Almost €7 million was bet on the Group One sprint, breaking the record for single race turnover in a World Pool race. Total turnover at Royal Ascot reached almost €180 million from 28 countries betting into it.
Irish Derby day is one of just two fixtures in Ireland that feature in the lucrative pool system. The other is the Irish Champion Stakes programme at Leopardstown in September.
Gavin Cromwell’s pristine Royal Ascot record stretches to two wins from two runners after Snellen’s Chesham Stakes victory on Saturday.
Cromwell sends half a dozen runners to Ballinrobe’s action on Monday and another trainer in action at Ballinrobe will be Denis Hogan who has four runners at the Co Mayo track.
Hogan has lodged an appeal against a three-month licence suspension which is due to begin at the start of August following the disqualification of a winner he saddled at Galway last October for a failed drugs test.
