EPSOM, England (AP) — Lambourn raced away from the pack to win the English Derby on Saturday, giving Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien his 11th win at the classic race.
Lambourn set the pace early and then pulled away down the final stretch to win by about 3 1/2 lenghts. The 3-year-old colt, ridden by Wayne Lordan, entered the race at 13-2 after losing to 2-1 favorite Delacroix at Leopardstown in March. But Delacroix never looked like challenging this time and finished ninth.
Lazy Griff (50-1) was second and Tennessee Stud came third.
It was O’Brien’s third consecutive win at the showpiece race.
“Wayne gave him him an incredible ride,” O’Brien said. “Everybody knew what he was going to do, he’s very straightforward, Wayne knew he’d stay so he went forward.”
Lambourn was sired by 2014 Derby winner Australia, who in turn was sired by 2001 victor Galileo.
“It’s incredible for everyone that we trained Australia to win the Derby and his sire as well, Galileo. I’m just a small part of it, everybody puts in so much, I can’t tell you what a privelege it is,” O’Brien said. “Australia was a great Derby winner and his horses are so straightforward, just like him.”
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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
The Associated Press