RACING:JOCKEY Colm O'Donoghue felt Daddy Long Legs failed to handle the dirt surface at Churchill Downs as he trailed home last in the Kentucky Derby.

Aidan O’Brien’s charge won the UAE Derby on Tapeta at Meydan in March and connections were hopeful he could handle a switch to dirt. But after racing with the pace early on, Daddy Long Legs soon faded and O’Donoghue eased up once his chance had gone.

“He broke really good from the gates and he travelled really well down to the six-furlong marker, but the surface was too slow for him. He needs a really sound surface,” said the rider. “In American terms the track is rated ‘fast’ and obviously the fractions are really quick, but he really needs a sound surface where he can really feel everything underneath him. He was fine . He had loads of tactical speed and he’s able to stop-start, but he found that the surface is just too slow for him.

"There's just that difference between the Tapeta surface, obviously, and the dirt . . . they were coming around him, so when he wasn't handling it, I wasn't going to push him. He's got a long year ahead," he told kentuckyderby.com.

On-course vet Larry Bramlage said the colt overheated but was fine after being swabbed down. “His rider knew what was happening and just quit asking him,” said Dr Bramlage.

The winner, I’ll Have Another, will challenge for the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, on May 19th.