If the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby was run at SW19 and called Wimbledon, Aidan O’Brien would be Federer and Nadal combined. O’Brien has won Ireland’s premier Classic seven times in the past 10 years and, when he sent out Cape Blanco to win it last year, leading home another Ballydoyle 1-2-3 in the race, he became the first trainer to win any Irish Classic five times on the spin.
Only one trainer has won any Classic six times in a row — Robert Robson, who won the English 1,000 Guineas every year between 1818 and 1823. If one of O’Brien’s representatives lands the Irish Derby this afternoon, he will bridge a gap of almost 200 years.
The perennial quandary for punters rears its head