Paddy Twomey interrupted the domination of rival trainer
Aidan O’Brien, saddling Deepone for a 1 3/4-length win Saturday at the Curragh,
Ireland, in the Group 2 Beresford Stakes, the first race on the Europe road to
the Kentucky Derby.
It is not the U.S. classic, though, that Twomey had in mind
for the Study Of Man colt owned by travel entrepreneur Vimal Khosla.
“Hopefully for Vimal, he’s (an Epsom) Derby horse for next
year, and that’ll be it for this year now,” Twomey told Racing TV after his first
victory in the Beresford, a one-mile turf race that O’Brien has won 21 times.
In the first furlong, Deepone (3-1) overtook Chief Little
Rock (5-1), one of the three O’Brien starters in the field of six 2-year-olds. He
maintained a narrow lead before jockey Billy Lee went to a left-handed crop
four times in the final furlong to repel late challengers and secure Deepone’s
third victory in five races.
Chief Little Rock held on for second, a short head better than
third-place stablemate Grosvenor Square (4-1). Navy Seal (5-2), another O’Brien
runner who was the post-time favorite, never fired from mid-pack and finished fourth
with jockey Frankie Dettori. Stromberg (3-1) came in fifth, and Ozark Daze
(150-1) was the back marker throughout the race.
Deepone’s winning time was 1:41.42 without a run-up for the one-turn
test that went up a hill and then down on a right-handed course rated yielding
to soft.
The Beresford began Europe’s seven-race road to the Kentucky
Derby. It was worth 10-5-3-2-1 points to the top five finishers. Next Saturday’s Royal
Lodge (G2) at Newmarket, England, will be the second stop.