RACING IRISH DERBY PREVIEW:COLM O'DONOGHUE'S name has hardly rated a mention in a Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby build-up dominated by jockey arrangements but don't be surprised if it is the talk of the Curragh tomorrow evening should Midas Touch emerge best in Ireland's premier Classic.
Johnny Murtagh’s decision to finally plump for Cape Blanco out of Aidan O’Brien’s five-runner Derby team all but guarantees the Dante winner will start favourite for the €1.25 million blue riband which starts at an unusually late 5.10pm due to RTÉ’s football World Cup scheduling.
Murtagh’s principal discard, Jan Vermeer, will be ridden by Séamus Heffernan who has twice before – Frozen Fire and Soldier Of Fortune – successfully stepped into the Ballydoyle breach on an apparent number two.
The final make-up of the O’Brien team also sees the champion trainer’s teenage son, Joseph, on board the Epsom Derby runner-up At First Sight, as O’Brien Snr pursues an Irish Derby five-in-a-row, and an eighth victory in all.
Throw in the intriguing twist of Frankie Dettori getting off Chabal in favour of the €125,000 supplementary entry, Monterosso, leaving Kieren Fallon in for a potentially startling return to the Curragh on the Godolphin horse, and it is easy to see how O’Donoghue is escaping under the publicity radar.
That’s nothing new to the Co Cork-born rider as his commitments are usually dictated by what Ballydoyle’s number one jockey does.
The not inconsiderable plus of the arrangement is that over the years the cast-off’s of Messrs Murtagh, Fallon and Kinane have provided O’Donoghue with a wealth of big-time experience.
He has twice been runner-up in the Irish Derby on Scorpion in 2005 and Golden Sword last year, as well as having finished third on the 150 to 1 shot Roosevelt in 2003. O’Donoghue has also tasted Classic glory with Astronomer Royal in the 2007 French Guineas.
He looked to have got a really good opportunity to burst onto centre stage when legged onto Midas Touch at Epsom three weeks ago but the Derrinstown Trial winner could finish only fifth to Workforce, just behind Jan Vermeer in fourth.
Workforce’s absence means it is now six years since an Epsom winner attempted to double up at the Curragh while there is again no French runner lining up tomorrow. However, those regrettable gaps can pay off in style for O’Donoghue.
Murtagh’s principal choice for tomorrow was widely believed to involve Cape Blanco and Jan Vermeer and he said yesterday: “Picking between Cape Blanco and Jan Vermeer was a tough decision. For some reason Cape Blanco did not run well in the French Derby. He won very well in the Dante, though, and I think we have him back to his best.”
However, after that Dante, both Murtagh and O’Brien expressed doubts about Cape Blanco at a mile and a half, something that no doubt contributed to him missing Epsom and going to Chantilly. Jan Vermeer’s performance at Epsom hardly diluted pedigree doubts about him at the distance either.
The one thing any Irish Derby winner has to have is stamina for a true mile and a half and that is what Midas Touch has in spades. Like the English hope Coordinated Cut, the Curragh track should play to his strengths more than Epsom did.
