Aidan O'Brien has saddled the winner of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Deby at the Curragh this afternoon. It marks his 13th victory in the prestigious contest but this was far from how people expected it to go.
After Anthony Van Dyck's win in the Epsom Derby at the start of the month, many said this would be plain sailing for the three-year-old. He went off the 5/4 favourite with some saying you'd be mad to bet against him and if you fancied a flutter the only other horse in the contest was Broome.
No such thing as a sure thing.
Two years on from winning the Epsom Derby aboard Wings of Eagles Padraig Beggy guided Sovereign home in convincing fashion, after going off at a starting price of the 33/1.
With only eight horses in the contest, the three-year-old had the longest odds.
It marks only the third ever victory for Sovereign who's owned by a syndicate of John Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith.
What a finish!
Sovereign wins the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby in commanding fashion under @padraigbeggy pic.twitter.com/8v9VSajpPr— The Curragh Racecourse (@curraghrace) June 29, 2019
It was Padraig Beggy's first win of the year, he afterward that he was "very, very lucky Aidan (O'Brien) and the whole team gave me the spin on this horse."
"The Irish Derby to me would mean more. My home track, proud Irish man. I served my time here for Kevin Prendergast, this was the race that I would have aimed as a young lad to win."
Very, very privileged to get a spin on a horse like this and in fairness this horse won very, very well.
He also spoke of the competitive nature and high standards that are to be seen in Irish racing today, saying;
"Ireland at the moment is very, very hard Declan McDonagh, Irish Champion jockey - one ride today."
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