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Eagle Mountain

Irish Derby, The Curragh 1st July 2007

Hellllo

All Time Great Lays

It was right that Eagle Mountain was installed as favourite for the 2007 Irish Derby when the ante post market was formed. Winner of the Group 2 Beresford Stakes as a juvenile, he had finished fifth in the Guineas on his debut at three and had stepped up markedly on that performance to chase home Authorized in the Epsom Derby.

There was no Authorized to worry about at The Curragh, no Aqaleem, no Lucarno. Eagle Mountain’s main market rival was Soldier Of Fortune, trained, like Eagle Mountain, by Aidan O’Brien, who had finished three lengths and as many places behind him at Epsom. The main Gallic challenger, Shamdinan, had been beaten in the French Derby, and that race did not look as strong a race as the Epsom contest, while his compatriot, Royal And Regal, from the Andre Fabre yard, had only just scraped home in a listed race on his previous run.

It rained at The Curragh all weekend. It rained so much that, although the clerk of the course called it soft to heavy on Derby day, common consensus was that it was just the raceable side of raceable. National Hunt ground, said some. Gradually the realisation dawned that, on the ground, perhaps Eagle Mountain was not the certainty that he appeared to be. It was soft ground when he won the Beresford all right but, in hindsight, that race probably didn’t take a great deal of winning for a Group 2 contest, and the only time that Eagle Mountain had raced on heavy ground in top company, he had come up short. That was in the Racing Post Trophy at Newbury on his final start as a juvenile, when he didn’t look at ease on the ground and, sent off as the 8/11 favourite, he finished a disappointing fourth.

Eagle Mountain was held up by Kieren Fallon towards the back of the field in the Irish Derby. He made ground around the outside coming down the hill on the approach to the home straight, but he was clearly struggling in the conditions. As they straightened up, it was fairly clear that Soldier Of Fortune towards the far side was travelling much the stronger.

When Seamie Heffernan asked that colt to move on, the response was impressive, and he quickly took two lengths out of his field. Eagle Mountain continued his progress on the outside, but it was gradual progress, and he had no answer to Soldier Of Fortune’s surge in the ground, with the result that he very quickly found himself five or six lengths adrift. At the line, Soldier Of Fortune had nine lengths in hand, as Eagle Mountain surrendered the runner-up spot to another stable companion, Alexander Of Hales, inside the last 50 yards.

Eagle Mountain proved his true worth later in the season when he won the Group 2 Royal Whip Stakes back at The Curragh, and when he got to within a short head of Literato in the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Newmarket on his final run.

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