Delacroix overcame a brief pre-race scare to earn a shot at Derby glory in Epsom next month when landing Sunday’s big race at Leopardstown.
The 1/3 favourite unseated jockey Wayne Lordan on the way to the start. However, once the Cashel Palace Derby Trial was underway, it was a straightforward performance.
Briefly challenged by Purview, Aidan O’Brien’s colt went away in the closing stages and his Derby odds were cut to as low as 4/1 by some firms.
It continued O’Brien’s remarkable dominance of the major Derby and Oaks trials over the last week. All three trials at Chester went to the Irishman as did the two at Lingfield on Saturday where Puppet Master beat his stable companion Stay True.
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O’Brien’s Derby favourite The Lion In Winter is set to reappear in this Thursday’s Dante at York.
“He jumped off a bit quick with me, we headed for the rail and I didn’t really have much time to stop. He just jinked at the wrong time – but I held onto him, thank God,” Lordan said afterwards.
“We’ve gone down to the start and the race worked beautifully. He has a cruising speed and he can quicken, so I was comfortable and I hit the line good. He has some class so you can think about it (Derby) for him. We’ve loads of horses who can fit so they can all find their own slots,” he added.
He has a first start for Willie Mullins against four opponents, including a pair for Gordon Elliott
In other news, Killarney’s three-day May programme continues on Monday, featuring the Grade Three Boylesports An Riocht Chase.
Last year’s winner Ash Tree Meadow is back alongside stable companion American Mike while Willie Mullins has both Blood Destiny and Hercule Du Seuil.
In the race, too, is Jesse Evans, who will be having just a fifth start over fences. The nine-year-old is hardly a callow novice though, as this will be his 40th start in a career featuring eight wins and a pair of runner-up placings in the Galway Hurdle.
Third behind Majborough at Grade One level in Punchestown recently, official ratings suggest he’s a major player.
Perhaps the most interesting runner on Monday comes earlier in the Irish Examiner Novice Hurdle as Sober makes a first start over jumps.
The ex-André Fabre horse went through the sales ring last winter for €115,000, which was hardly extravagant for a horse with a pair of Group Two victories on the flat and having run third in Prix Royal Oak.
He has a first start for Willie Mullins against four opponents, including a pair for Gordon Elliott, who could hardly have anticipated coming up against such a classy flat operator.
A sure sign of approaching summer is the return of racing at Roscommon which hosts a flat card on Monday.
Having been in classic action in Paris on Sunday, champion jockey Colin Keane is back for six rides, starting with Harmani for his boss, Ger Lyons, in the opening juvenile maiden. The experience of his debut second to Charles Darwin at Navan could prove decisive.
