Jockeys under fire after Serpentine pulls off shock with all-the-way win in Derby

A Derby run in bizarre circumstances produced a suitably extraordinary result here on Saturday, as the first three horses after a furlong and a half filled the same positions at the line a couple of minutes later, while the riders on their 13 opponents sat back and allowed them to get on with it. Serpentine, at 25-1, was clear of the field rounding Tattenham Corner and comfortably held his advantage to win by five and a half lengths from Khalifa Sat (50-1) and Amhran Na Bhfiann (66-1), a trifecta that paid out at 56,000-1 on the Tote.

There were no spectators at Epsom to see it but it was the kind of race, and result, that would have played out in near silence even with the normal complement of 100,000 punters on the Downs.

Related: Derby day at Epsom: Serpentine pulls off huge shock in Classic – as it happened

It was clear from a quarter of a mile out that Serpentine and Emmet McNamara had stolen the race from the front, seven days after the colt had managed to bring up his first win – in only his third outing – at the Curragh. Kameko, the 2,000 Guineas winner and 5-2 favourite, was fourth after sitting in much the same position throughout, while Frankie Dettori and English King, sent off at 100-30 from a tricky draw in stall one, finished strongly into fifth from well off the pace.

Never mind spectators, McNamara scarcely heard another horse on the way to his first winner since October. “I got a little bit of a freebie,” he said, showing a considerable gift for understatement. “All I could hear was the horse breathing. He was in a good rhythm, he was relaxed and I couldn’t hear a thing around me.

“I didn’t want to be looking … but I knew I was a few [lengths] clear. It’s a bit surreal, I can’t believe it.”

McNamara was Ireland’s champion apprentice in 2008 but his opportunities have been more limited in recent times and Serpentine was his ninth mount of 2020. His association with the O’Brien stable, though, means that there is always a chance of a useful spare ride, and Saturday’s success, came a week after he was beaten into second place in the Irish Derby.

“I’ve been saving myself,” McNamara said, when reminded that he had not had a winner for nine months. “Things are very tough in Ireland in terms of getting rides and I’m not the lightest guy in the world, but thankfully, Aidan knows I’m riding out every day and I’m fit as a fiddle, so when a race like this pops up and he’s got a few extra runners, he seems to give me a couple of spins.”

Serpentine was one of six runners in the race trained by Aidan O’Brien, who has now taken sole ownership of the record for the most Derby wins by a trainer with eight, which were ridden by seven different jockeys.

O’Brien has been the subject of mutterings by a few rivals in recent days, the suggestion being that his multiple entries in races like the Derby might sometimes adopt team tactics.

Related: Team tactics never part of racing strategy, promises Aidan O'Brien | Chris Cook

Serpentine’s success, though, spoke more to his response that every horse that he runs in a Classic is there to win, and could do so on any given day if the race unfolds to suit. Serpentine was fully entitled to be in the Derby on pedigree – he is by Galileo, O’Brien’s first Derby winner, out of a runner-up in the Oaks – and he was allowed to dictate at no more than a solid pace while his opponents seemed more concerned about each other. Serpentine is clearly a better colt than many believed, and they let him get away.

“We try to give every horse the best chance of winning and we try to ride them all accordingly,” O’Brien said. “Emmet was very happy to go forward and William [Buick, on Amhran Na Bhfiann] was happy to go forward too.

“When he won impressively [last weekend] he absolutely ran through the line at the Curragh at a mile and a quarter and to do that you have to be very good and have real class. Donnacha [O’Brien, his son] said after five furlongs that he was in front, very comfortable and that he wasn’t going to stop. Emmet judged the pace really well and he knew that he was a horse that was going to get every yard of a mile-and-a-half.”

Haydock 
12.00 Mayaas 12.30 Love Powerful 1.00 Snazzy Jazzy 1.30 Theatro 2.05 Jellystone 2.40 Manuela De Vega 3.15 Deja (nb) 3.50 Lincoln Park 4.20 Shadow Leader

Sandown 
1.15 Risk Of Thunder 1.50 Dakota Gold 2.25 Cross Counter 3.00 Montatham 3.35 Ghaiyyath 4.05 Global Giant 4.35 Tulip Fields 5.10 Eshaasy

Doncaster 
1.40 Rhoscolyn 2.15 Parikarma 2.50 Society Lion 3.25 Spirit Of The Sky 4.00 Count D'Orsay 4.30 Ghadbbaan 5.00 Duck And Vanish 5.35 Doctor Cross (nap) 6.05 Sports Reporter

O’Brien’s approach to the Derby means that only three of his winners have started as favourite, while Serpentine now joins Wings Of Eagles, at 40-1, as one of the biggest outsiders to win in recent years. His true merit will become apparent only when this form is put to a serious test, possibly in the St Leger at Doncaster in September or perhaps in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe a few weeks later.

The ante-post betting, though, suggests that Love, who set O’Brien on the way to a Classic double with an emphatic success in the Oaks yesterday, is far more likely to be leading the field home at Longchamp in October.