First run in 1866, the Irish Derby at the Curragh is now one of the world’s most prestigious horse races, an event which customarily attracts the top horses from England and France as well as Ireland.
The roll of honour includes many of the iconic names of racing history – among them Ballymoss, Nikinsky, Shergar, El Gran Senor, and more recently Montjeu, Sinndar and Galileo.
And on the human front he race’s history is populated by such figures as:
‘Boss’ Crocker, whose name became a synonym for political corruption in New York and whose colt Orby in 1907 was the first to win both the Epsom Derby and the Irish Derby;
Joe McGrath, whose enterprise in the early 1960s created the Irish Sweeps Derby and transformed the race into a major international event;
Bing Crosby, who delivered an impromptu rendition of ‘When Irish Eyes Are Smiling; in the winner’s enclosure after Meadow Court, a horse he co-owned, won the 1965 race;
Vincent O’Brien, greatest of all trainers, who won the Irish Derby six times and whose brother Phonsie trained the 1960 winner;
Aidan O’Brien, whose domination of the race in recent years – eleven winners between 1997 and 2014 - forms on of the remarkable records in the sport.
Superbly illustrated throughout and featuring an extensive listing of Irish Derby results, the book is a fitting tribute to Ireland’s flagship race in the year of its 150th running.
Hardback.