Cape Blanco managed to record a clean sweep for Aidan O’Brien’s camp at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh. Though Johnny Murtagh was fourth for most of the race, his stable companion Midas Touch managed to move up to the front.

This lead to Jan Vermeer joining in the race, where the three Ballydoyle horses fought it out for the final placing. Cape Blanco managed to assert his win in the last 100 yards with Midas Touch coming in second and Jan Vermeer, third.

Though Cape Blanco was impressive in the Dante Stakes at York, he had failed with a disappointing French Derby performance. According to O’Brien, although Johnny had actually given him a great ride, they couldn’t understand his performance in France.

They attributed his poor performance to travel and perhaps as it was his first day away, something upset him, as he performed very much out of character. However, it seems as if he has managed to leave that behind him, showing the class and courage he is famous for.

Survived injury scare

In the midst of all this excitement, did you see that Irish Derby winning jockey Johnny Murtagh had managed to survive an injury scare when his mount fell at the opening race of the Curragh.

He was actually in front at the two-furlong marker of the Dubai Duty Free Full Of Surprises EBF Maiden race when the incident occurred. It looked like he lost his action completely and crashed through the rail, which lead to Murtagh’s horrific fall. However everyone was relieved when he appeared to be unscathed.

While Petronious Maximus got up and cantered away, Murtagh rose to his feet and was assisted to the weighing room by trainer Aidan O’Brien. Murtagh later said that the doctors had done a great job on him, and that he was glad that nothing serious happened to him or his horse.