THERE AREN’T many major steeplechases that Barry Geraghty hasn’t won. In fact through their absence, the Irish Grand National and today’s €200,000 Tote Galway Plate stick out like sore thumbs in the former champion jockey’s big-race CV. But The Last Derby can fill at least one of those blanks in the biggest chase of the Irish summer calendar.
The Plate has not been a kind race to Geraghty in the past. In fact the best the 30-year-old rider has managed was a sixth on Monty’s Pass in 2002, a year before Jimmy Mangan’s star entered the Aintree Grand National record books. However, despite a maximum field of 22 lining up for the two-and-three-quarter-mile highlight, including a pair of runners from two of Britain’s most powerful yards, not to mention a Dermot Weld-trained favourite that the King Of Ballybrit believes might be his best chance of the week, The Last Derby looks to have a lot going for him.
Like many of the principal protagonists, The Last Derby is hardly a grizzled fencing veteran. Today will be just his sixth start over fences but he certainly represents an in-form team as trainer Eoin Griffin and owner John Brennan combined to win Monday night’s feature with Admiral Barry.
Brennan is also represented by the former Galway Hurdle winner Cuan Na Grai who will attempt to emulate Ansar by completing the big festival double but The Last Derby has the look of a horse who has had a perfect preparation for this task. Despite his comparative inexperience he already has a major handicap pot to his credit as he picked up a major £100,000 Ascot prize last October when scoring impressively at tote odds of over 100 to 1.
That may have been a surprise but what isn’t has been Griffin’s determination to maintain a decent handicap mark with the horse and The Last Derby returned to action with an impressive defeat of Eagle’s Pass over hurdles at Cork earlier this month.
He starts today off 10st 6lb which will be a push for Geraghty but the jockey explained yesterday: “I’ve also got to do 10-4 in Thursday’s Hurdle so even though it will be a sweat, I’ll manage 10-6 alright. There’s great word for Majestic Concorde but it’s a competitive race and I don’t think my horse is fully exposed.”
Majestic Concorde will have just his fifth start over fences today but he is a proven festival performer and returned to action with a fine fourth in May’s Chester Cup on the flat. Weld is chasing a fifth Plate victory and is fancying his chances. “I think he’s got a very good chance but inexperience is the problem. That’s a big factor over those two fences in the dip.” said Weld, who also runs the versatile Bobs Pride.
Paul Nicholls, a winner with Oslot in 2008 brings over Five Dream who he rates a better horse than Oslot while Nigel Twiston Davies has had a fine summer already with Grand Slam Hero.
The fly in the ointment for everyone could be Willie Mullins’s number one Themoonandsixpence, who will have just a third chase start, while on his best form Nicanor is handicapped to win by a street. But while it might not be by a street, The Last Derby and the big-race specialist Geraghty may yet end up winning by far enough.
Gordon Elliott has three hopefuls in the Plate headed by Nedzer’s Return but the in-form trainer’s best chance today could end up being Final Day in the opening novice hurdle. Paul Carberry’s mount followed up a Down Royal victory with a decent second to The Fonze at Limerick and there was a lot to like about the way he bounced back from that defeat at Downpatrick last time.
Endless Intrigue was a top-class bumper horse in 2008 and after a two-year lay-off he can complete his comeback with success in the mile-and-a-half amateur maiden while Dermot Weld should also be on the mark in the concluding maiden. Duc de Savoie’s 80 mark represents a decent benchmark at this level and yet Pat Smullen teams up with Unaccompanied whose Naas debut was hardly earth-shattering.
