Aidan O’Brien dominated Investec Derby Day at Epsom today (Saturday, 4 July) with impressive wins in both the Derby and the Oaks.
Serpentine, who is owned by Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, was a 25/1 shot in the Investec Derby and one of six runners from O’Brien’s Irish stable.
Under Emmet McNamara, the three-year-old son of Derby victor Galileo took a clear lead turning for home and won comfortably by 5½ lengths to the Andrew Balding-trained Khalifa Sat (Tom Marquand) in second.
“It was unbelievable,” said Aidan. “Serpentine is from a great pedigree and we always thought he’d stay very well. We have been delighted with him at home.
“He is homebred by Galileo, so he has Derby pedigree in him – we are over the moon with the result,” added the record-breaking Derby trainer, who has won the Classic eight times now.
Galloping clear in the Oaks
The Investec Oaks was won by the Aidan O’Brien-trained Love (pictured, below), the 1000 Guineas winner, under Ryan Moore and for the same connections as the Derby winner.
The winning jockey was claiming the Oaks title for the third time following Snow Fairy in 2010 and Minding in 2016.
The favourite, a three-year-old chestnut daughter of Galileo, beat stablemate Ennistymon (Seamie Heffernan) by nine lengths.
The long-time leaders, Passion and Tiempo Vuela, pushed ahead by 15 lengths before being caught by the rest of the field six furlongs out. The eventual winner took the helm two furlongs out before galloping clear of her rivals and winning impressively.
“I couldn’t have been happier with Love and I don’t think she could have been any more impressive today,” said Ryan.
“You never expect to win an Oaks – I don’t know how far she won by [nine lengths], but it felt like a very long way. She was exceptional today, hopefully she has got plenty to look forward to in the future and she would be a threat to anything.
“She wasn’t stopping at all, she actually got down to the rail and picked up again – she is very good.”
Don’t miss the full report from Investec Derby Day at Epsom in next week’s issue of Horse & Hound (9 July).
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