Derby analysis: Eagles could soar further after Derby upset

As the race neared its denouement, the three at the head of the betting began to take control and the eye was drawn easily to Ryan Moore motoring down the outside on Cliffs Of Moher.

Victory seemed certain as the combination overhauled the Frankel colts, Cracksman and Eminent, but no sooner had they swept into the lead than Padraig Beggy trumped them all aboard the unconsidered Wings Of Eagles.

Had you been paid £1 every time you heard the sentence “Padraig who?” in the next ten minutes, you would have left Epsom a rich man.

Did we see an exceptional Derby winner, one capable of dominating much of the rest of the season such such as Golden Horn two years ago?

It is highly unlikely. Wings Of Eagles beat the “right” horses - those with the best form and open to the most improvement - but the highest-rated horse coming into the race was rated 113 and about eight lengths covered the first 11 home.

The time was swift - the winner dipped 1.48sec under standard - but the even gallop and fast ground were factors in that.

Conditions lent themselves to quick performances over the two days of the Derby meeting - Enable had won in a record time for the Oaks 24 hours earlier - but the winner stopped the clock in the Derby about 1.7sec slower than record holder Workforce did in 2010. In other words, more than six lengths inferior.

Wings Of Eagles had caught the eye under considerate handling when runner-up in the Chester Vase but, overall, he was having his sixth start and this represented a big jump forwards. At 40-1, the only one of O’Brien’s sextet to start at bigger odds was The Anvil.

His ability to see the race out strongly won him the day and such depths of stamina will also make him hard to beat in the Irish Derby, too, assuming he goes there. Further down the line, the St Leger looks tailor-made for him. He is a general 5-1 for that.

O’Brien believes the ‘babyish’ Cliffs Of Moher is open to the greater improvement and, as usual, how he deploys his troops in the future will be fascinating.

The colt got sweaty before the start and was easy to back, but he did everything right once the gates opened until about the last 100 yards.

He does not look a horse who requires a mile and a half to show his best and, while clearly effective at the trip, it would not be a big surprise if his next race were the Coral-Eclipse, for which William Hill quote him at 12-1.

The King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot is another option - the older horses have to concede lumps of weight in the race - but O’Brien already has Highland Reel, the defending champion, at the top of his batting order in that contest.

Cracksman looked in trouble some way out and, given that, performed wonders to be beaten under a length.

It could well be that he was not enjoying the track, or a combination of fast ground and the track, but this was only his third start and so he is more than entitled to keep on progressing.

Eminent stuck to his guns gamely but seemed beaten on merit and has had quite an exacting first half of the campaign. He might require time to draw breath.

Whatever, the Derby class of 2017 will have their work cut out against an older brigade that includes Almanzor, Jack Hobbs, Highland Reel and Dartmouth in the second half of the season.

Containing Enable, the brilliant Oaks winner, could also be a problem. The leading lady over a mile and a half might just be more than a match for the boys in receipt of her fillies’ allowance.