Aidan O’Brien’s Derby tilt gets Los Angeles glitz as struggles finally end… as success at Leopardstown bodes well for Epsom


  • O’Brien has faced a challenging period, with high-profile horses failing to deliver
  • He has seen favourites lose at Chester and Lingfield but Sunday brought success
  • Log Angeles’ father won the Epsom Derby in 2012 and roads lead to that race

Aidan O’Brien’s quest to unearth a serious Derby contender reaped dividends as Los Angeles put his name up in lights for Epsom.

This has been a challenging period for O’Brien, with a string of high-profile horses failing to deliver what was expected of them.

The biggest shock was City Of Troy’s abject display in the Qipco 2,000 Guineas last week, but Henry Longfellow’s defeat in Sunday’s French 2,000 Guineas was just as bad.

O’Brien also saw favourites beaten in trials at Chester and Lingfield, but at Leopardstown on Sunday a relentless galloping performance from Los Angeles — a Group One winning two-year-old — prompted the bookmakers to take evasive action.

The colt, ridden by Wayne Lordan, is exceptionally well bred. His father, Camelot, won the Epsom Derby in 2012 and all roads lead to that race for Los Angeles now after he justified 4-5 favouritism.

Aidan O'Brien's rough period came to an end with Los Angeles' success at Leopardstown

Aidan O’Brien’s rough period came to an end with Los Angeles’ success at Leopardstown

The two-year-old's father won the Epsom Derby in 2012 and all roads seem to lead to that race for him

The two-year-old’s father won the Epsom Derby in 2012 and all roads seem to lead to that race for him

Significantly, his best work was at the end of the mile-and-a-quarter contest.

Chris Armstrong, representing the Ballydoyle yard, said: ‘He’s a big horse. He’s a beautiful mover, he’s got the right mind, as you’ll have seen when he walked round the paddock beforehand when he was absolutely chilled.

‘He’s got the same attitude at home. Camelot obviously went round there no problem and a lot of his good sire traits are in this horse. He can travel away but I think the big improvement will be when he goes up to the mile-and-a-half.’

Conditions in Ireland were significantly better than in France, where O’Brien’s Henry Longfellow got stuck in the mud. The race was won by Metropolitan but the bunch-finish left British trainer Roger Teal heartbroken as his colt Dancing Gemini just failed with his challenge.

The race was delayed by 35 minutes due to a deluge and Teal said: ‘If it hadn’t rained I don’t know what would have happened, but I think we’d have been there and reeled them in.’



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