Irish thoroughbreds dominate the Darley Dewhurst Stakes
ST Mark’s Basilica has won the Group 1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket on 10/1 for Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien.
Image credit: theownerbreeder.com
The seven-furlong race on 10th October was the seventh Dewhurst for the Coolmore Stud trainer and the second in three years for jockey Franky Dettori, who piloted Basilica to win ahead of stablemate Wembley and the Joseph O’Brien trained Thunder Moon.
The 1-2 win was an indication of sorts of how very different the Paris Longchamp on Arc day earlier this month could have gone had O’Brien not been forced to pull his runners due to issues from contaminated feed.
Irish racehorse trainer Aidan O’Brien
“We are delighted with both of them,” said Aidan O’Brien after the race, which earned a purse of £500,000. “The plan was that St Mark’s Basilica would run in France and then Wembley would run in the Dewhurst, that is the way we were going. “We have always liked St Mark’s Basilica a lot and Wembley, we have always thought they were smart colts.”
The traditionally juvenile championship race open to two-year-old colts and fillies was on softer ground than for O’Brien’s Thunder Moon at The Curragh, reversing the form for on the Rowley Mile. The half-brother of 2000 Guineas winner Magna Grecia shined on a flat turf course and was up to the extra stamina required over the going.
