Murtagh to ride Volta in Derby
The son of Montjeu is one of five horses who are expected to be declared this morning to represent Ballydoyle by trainer, Aidan O’Brien. Murtagh rode all five on Wednesday morning, before arriving at a decision.
Alessandro Volta finished sixth at Epsom behind New Approach and Tartan Bearer, when ridden by Seamus Heffernan.
He was a place and a short head behind another O’Brien inmate, Washington Irving. Also by Montjeu, he was ridden by Colm O’Donoghue, who will again be in the plate.
Heffernan switches to Frozen Fire, who was only 11th at Epsom. O’Brien also intends to run Hinda Kush and Bashkirov.
Both horses are quite happy making the running and Hinda Kush will have David McCabe in the plate, with Sean Levey teaming up with Bashkirov.
Conditions at the Curragh have eased to good after 13 millimetres of rain fell ahead of the three-day meeting which starts tonight.
“We’ve had 13 millimetres of rain and there’s more rain forecast. The going will be updated tomorrow morning. The forecast is unsettled,” said a racecourse spokeswoman.
Casual Conquest, third in the Vodafone Derby, was the best backed horse for the race yesterday, with Dermot Weld’s colt cut to 6-1 from 7-1 with Ladbrokes and 5-1 from 13-2 with VC Bet.
Ladbrokes’ David Williams said: “Casual Conquest is the only attractive alternative to New Approach at this stage of the betting.”
Neal Wilkins, from VC Bet, added: “Dermot Weld’s colt proved extremely popular this morning and we eventually had to cut the Derby third from 13-2 to 5-1.
“Clearly a big run is expected and he could be better suited by the Curragh than he was by Epsom’s gradients.”
Casual Conquest was supplemented at a cost of £75,000 at Epsom and was having only the third race of his career.
Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby, Ladbrokes bet: 4-5 New Approach, 7-2 Tartan Bearer, 6-1 Casual Conquest, 12-1 Alessandro Volta, 16-1 Centennial, Curtain Call, Washington Irving, 20-1 bar.
