Epsom Derby Report: Kris Kin carried Kieren Fallon to Derby success at Epsom on Saturday and in the process propelled bucket loads of crow across the Irish Sea for the presumptuous to tuck into.

The run up to racing's blue riband had featured sniggering bookie quotes about the home team's chances that only reflected the widespread belief that this Derby was there for the Irish to carve up.

Instead the great race bit back and the only consolation was that there was quite a gratifying symmetry to how it was those same bookies that collected the irony right between the eyes.

Kris Kin was backed down from 12 to 1 to half those odds and the widespread public gamble was brought off in style as he swept to a one-length success.

Behind him was the 20 to 1 outsider The Great Gatsby, who even his greatest fan would admit was Aidan O'Brien's third string going into the race, and just a short head back in third was the first of the supposed Irish A-Team, Alamshar.

"There had been a worry about him staying but all he did today was stay," said Alamshar's rider John Murtagh. Such bemused sentiments were also rampant much further back.

The 2,000 Guineas winner and favourite Refuse To Bend (13th) ran a shocker and was being niggled at by Pat Smullen as the field powered down hill towards Tattenham Corner.

"He possibly didn't stay - I'd say that's the biggest factor. Down the hill I still thought I had a shot but it was possibly a bridge too far," reported Smullen.

"Disappointing," was Michael Kinane's succinct summing up of Brian Boru (16th), and the champion jockey couldn't be accused of avoiding the truth.

Aidan O'Brien's other supposed main hope Alberto Giacometti (12th) found nothing in the straight and it was left to his lesser hyped stable mates, The Great Gatsby and Balestrini, to lead the Irish challenge early in the straight.

Thirty one Derbys haven't blunted Pat Eddery's dash around Epsom and for much of the straight it looked like it would be victory number four for the veteran rider. "Two out I thought I would win. Then Kris Kin came wide. If he had been closer my chap might have fought back a bit. But he is a very brave horse," said Eddery who finished runner-up for the sixth time.

Instead it was Kris Kin that entered the 224-year-old winning history book and if the £90,000 supplementary entry wasn't particularly heralded by pundits beforehand, there is the consolation that the colt hasn't always been the apple of Michael Stoute'e eye either. "The laziest horse I've had anything to do with since Shardari," was the Newmarket trainer's verdict. Since Shardari was doing his running in the mid-1980s, we're talking pretty lazy.

But Kris Kin isn't lazy enough to have prevented his expensive re-entry into the race, or the gamble that developed around him all day. At least part of that popular punt had to do with Fallon. Since checking into a Co Tipperary rehabilitation clinic during the winter, the Co Clare-born British champion jockey has quit the drink and rediscovered a rampant appetite for success.

Possessed of huge physical strength, Fallon brought that desire to bear on his laid back partner and conjured an irresistible run up the rail that carried him to the leader's tail. A switch to the right and a couple of hefty back handers completed the job.

"One of the great Derby rides," was Stoute's verdict, while Dubai-based owner Saeed Suhail's decision some years ago to fire Fallon from his horses, now looks like a very temporary blip. "Everything happened for the horse and he did it very well. It got a little rough at the top of the hill when the horses come in but he was man enough to cope," Fallon said.

It was a second Derby for the rider after Oath in 1999 and a second classic of the season for the Stoute-Fallon team after Russian Rhythm's 1,000 Guineas win.

If Kris Kin is to emulate Stoute's previous Epsom heroes, Shergar and Shahrastani, he will have to be supplemented for the Irish Derby. Fallon has never won the Curragh classic before. But Saturday proved yet again that he is a formidable opponent.

The Turf Club have emphasised there is no problem with tomorrow's Laytown fixture going ahead despite the mile plus races having to be dropped. Instead the six and seven furlong races will be divided to make a six-race card.