February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
John Magnier’s enterprise purchased Hurricane Run from Dietrich von Boetticher prior to Sunday’s Budweiser Irish Derby at The Curragh, but the seller went along on the condition that the Irish-bred colt would run in his colors. So, while Magnier and his wife Susan, along with partner Michael Tabor, settled for second place with their wholly-owned Scorpion, they got more than half a loaf.
Hurricane Run, based in France and trained by Andre Fabre, boosted the stock of his sire, Montjeu, the winner of the 1999 Derby. Montjeu’s dalliances with a court of fillies further enriches the Coolmore ledgers as he does his thing in the amorous environs of Fethard, Co. Tipperary.
While Irish Derby success is old hat to Coolmore and trainer Andre Fabre (he previously won in 1995 with Winged Love), jockey Kieren Fallon bagged this classic on his native soil for the first time.
“For years I have dreamed of winning this race,” Fallon said. “It means everything.”
Fallon, whose tactics in lesser races have brought him heightened scrutiny, employed a somewhat roundabout route, but did so as a matter of strategy.
Last of nine in the early going, Hurricane Run began to run in earnest with five-sixteenths of a mile to the finish, passing horses on the grandstand side. With an eighth of a mile to go, he had the field at his mercy, although Scorpion made him work for it down to the last stride. The margin of victory was a half-length.
“I thought I was on the best horse and I wanted the clearest route, even if it wasn’t necessarily the best route,” Fallon said. “Maybe I could have rode a better race. I feel like I covered the whole of The Curragh, but I wanted to be sure of winning and not risk getting trapped on the inside.”
“Covering the whole of The Curragh,” as Fallon put it, took 2:29.40 over ground listed as good to firm.
UPSET IN KENTUCKY
Trainer Eddie Kenneally got a pleasant surprise out of Kelly’s Landing at
Churchill Downs on Saturday. The 11-1 longshot surprised the field by almost two lengths in the $162,450 Aristides Breeders’ Cup Handicap, a Grade 3 sprint. Kelly’s Landing, a 4-year-old gelding by Patton, set a track record of 1:07.2 for six furlongs.
“We were looking for an allowance race for him to run in, but there wasn’t any so we opted for the stakes,” said Kenneally, who left Waterford for the U.S. “We wanted to run at Churchill, his home racetrack, so that was the option. There was no pressure; we just gave it a shot.”
“He broke real relaxed and was able to stay in striking distance without me using him,” said winning rider Gary Stevens. “He just took me around the turn at his will.”
Kelly’s Landing, a homebred owned by Summerplace Farm, now has five wins from nine starts. This was his first stakes win. He paid $25.80 in the mutuels.