With four Irish runners in the final, my son Timmy and I will be heading over to England for the Derby. It looks a good final and like the semis, it should suit the 550 yard dogs more than the sprinters.
I would expect Hiya Butt, or Colar House Jim as we knew him in Ireland, to lead up on the outside, though whether he can get across to the rails remains to be seen. All of which should give Jaytee Jet a good run on the outside. We know the dog well from the Easter Cup and he looks good enough to win it.
A couple of years ago, a well known somebody, who should have known better, was stood just in front of the traps trying to encourage the crowd to start the Derby roar as soon as the hare was about to move. It is ridiculous and puts off some of the dogs.
That kind of thing seldom happens in Ireland. The once occasion when it affected us was with Clares Rocket in the final at Limerick. Part of the stand is very close to the traps and somebody was creating a right racket. I can’t say for certain that that was why the dog missed his break, but I suspect it was.
Meanwhile my wife Nicky will be back in Ireland handling our Oaks runners. I was a bit surprised at how well Ballydoyle went in her quarter final to break 28.00. She still has some milk and is otherwise just not in her best condition – a bit like her trainer. We are very happy with her draw in six, though she has radar when she runs anyway.
We also have Sidarian Pearl and Rural Hawaii in the same semi and we hope to get them both through. I am particularly expecting a big run from Pearl who is in great order and couldn’t be better drawn in red.
Clares Rocket is enjoying a well earned rest after the Produce Stakes. We haven’t made any final decisions but at this stage I think we might avoid the Champion Stakes. It arrives immediately before the Irish Derby and it might affect his chances – it is a couple of races to many in my opinion – and the Derby has to be our priority.
In the meantime we have youngster Sidarian Eska entered for the Laurels. He did 18.50 in his sprint trial at Shelbourne and followed up with an 18.84 on a wet track that was assessed as .40 slow. (TR 18.41).
