Racing Leopardstown report: Alamshar's narrow success in yesterday's Derrinstown Derby Trial satisfied his connections but left the bookmakers cold. From being as low as 100 to 30 joint favourite for Epsom beforehand, the John Oxx-trained colt is now generally available at 9 to 2 despite a battling win off an interrupted preparation.
That might not be the sort of profile the last three Derrinstown winners have carried to Epsom success but if Oxx was worried he did a fine job of disguising it. "I came here half expecting to get beat," he said. "I felt he would do well to scramble in and that's what he did. The last thing I was expecting was for him to streak away by four lengths."
Mind you, any kind of streaking was strictly off the agenda yesterday in favour of doggedness. The race was run in driving rain and at the three-furlong pole John Murtagh was starting to push. A pacemaker did for Murtagh in the Ballysax last month and this time he was determined not to let Masandan and The Great Gatsby get away.
In behind, the Ballydoyle first string, Brian Boru, didn't pick up immediately and briefly hung but his stable companion was made of sterner stuff.
Alamshar was flat out to get the better of The Great Gatsby by a head with Brian Boru two and a half lengths back in third.
"He took a while to get going and when he got there he idled a bit," reported Murtagh.
Oxx was also determined to look on the bright side: "It wasn't spectacular but please God we will have a better run up to the next race. Sinndar only won this by a head as well.
"On Thursday Alamshar wasn't going to run because of the abscess problem, the ground today was not ideal and that rain was getting in. I know he will have to improve for Epsom but he has got a chance to do that," Oxx added.
Ladbrokes dramatically cut The Great Gatsby in their Derby betting to 12 to 1, leaving Brian Boru unchanged at 6 to 1.
Aidan O'Brien said afterwards: "We have always thought The Great Gatsby is a good horse and the other horse was having his first run of the season and had to give 5lb. I would hope he would improve."
Despite that, however, the happiest man at Leopardstown might have been Dermot Weld, whose Refuse To Bend is now as low as 9 to 4 favourite for the Derby.
"Maybe it was a little soft for Alamshar but I still think he is a very good horse," was the Weld verdict.
Cat Belling was the outsider of Kevin Prendergast's two in the 1,000 Guineas Trial but beat Flamelet by a head. Her jockey, Pat Shanahan, also won the opener, on Little Whisper, but in the process also picked up a three-day ban for careless riding.
However, that sting was mostly forgotten when European completed a treble for Shanahan with a game success in the Amethyst Stakes. European isn't an entry for the Irish 2,000 Guineas but may yet be supplemented.
