Camelot has first classic winner in Irish Derby
The win also gave prominent Australian owner Lloyd Williams his first European Derby winner with an Irish–bred horse presumably named after the Latrobe Valley and river in his home state of Victoria.
Trained by Joseph O’Brien who won last year’s Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) for the owner with Rekindling (High Chaparral), Latrobe caught the leader Rostropovich (Frankel) in the final furlong then outstayed him to win by a half-length with hot favourite Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact) just another neck back in third place in a performance which has prompted connections of the 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) winner to bring him back in distance for his next appearance.
Previously stakes placed, Latrobe was going into the Irish Derby off an impressive six and a half-length maiden victory over the Derby distance at the same track.
The race will long remain in the memory as an O’Brien family benefit and tribute as Joseph O’Brien trained the winner, his younger brother Donnacha rode the horse and their legendary and proud father Aidan trained the second, third, fourth and fifth horses home.
Back in 2012 Joseph O’Brien rode Latrobe’s sire Camelot (Montjeu), trained by his father, to victory in the Irish Derby after taking both the 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1 mile) and The Derby (Gr 1, 1m4f) at Epsom in style to confirm Camelot as Europe’s champion three-year-old of his generation. Attempting to become the first British Triple Crown winner since Nijinsky (Northern Dancer), Camelot had to settle for second in the final leg, the St Leger (Gr 1, 1m 6.5f) at Doncaster.
Camelot was not without his share of speed and precocity being unbeaten in two starts as a two-year-old, his major success in the Racing Post Trophy (Gr 1, 1m) clinching for him the title of champion two-year-old in Britain and Ireland in 2011.
Latrobe is the eighth stakes winner to so far emerge from Camelot’s first European crop and it will be interesting to see how his single Australian crop, now two-year-olds, perform over longer distances next season. So far very few have raced but his daughter Lady Of Shalott (ex Very Trying by Stravinsky) has won and looks to have considerable ability.
There are 75 live foals in Camelot’s only Australian crop, the majority out of superbly bred mares, but Coolmore decided not to bring him back to the Hunter for another season as it was felt outside support for such a high–class Classic horse was somewhat disappointing in a market so concentrated on producing two-year-olds and sprinters. That decision was regrettable for those Australian breeders seeking to produce horses to contest the best races at 1600 metres and beyond.
Out of the stakes winning Kingmambo (Mr. Prospector) mare Tarfah with stakes winner Fickle (Danehill) as his second dam, Camelot is high among the best of the 126 black type winners left by classic champion and champion sire Montjeu (Sadler’s Wells) whose son Tavistock is firmly established as one of New Zealand’s leading sires.
Latrobe has an equally powerful female pedigree as his winning, stakes placed dam Question Times (Shamardal) has previously foaled the quality filly Diamond Fields (Fastnet Rock), winner in Ireland of the Gladness Stakes (Gr 3, 7f).
The family is American with plenty of stakes winners in the first four removes as you will see from the accompanying catalogue pedigree.
Camelot is bred on the tremendously successful broad Northern Dancer (Nearctic)/ Mr. Prospector (Raise A Native) cross with three lines of Northern Dancer in his background while Question Times carries a 4m x 4m double of Mr. Prospector as well as two lines of Northern Dancer.
Hail to Reason (Turn-To) figures on both sides of Latrobe’s pedigree and to my mind the pedigree of Question Times is particularly dynamic as not only is Mr. Prospector duplicated but also Storm Bird (Northern Dancer), Roberto (Hail To Reason), Secretariat (Bold Ruler), Never Bend (Nasrullah), Nashua (Nasrullah) and a number of other key ancestors.