A cracking finish to an amazing race. Aidan O’Brian trained Mendelssohn won the 2018 UAE Derby with flying colors. This was a tough race with Gold Town giving Mendelssohn a run for his money but the Ryan Moore ridden colt didn’t flinch. He stuck to the plan and to his lead and won the race.
Mendelssohn let himself loose over the far turn just pushed the lead farther. He ended up winning by almost 18 lengths. "We are over the moon,” said trainer Aidan O’Brien, who won the UAE Derby for the third time.
“He came forward lovely from his run at Dundalk a few weeks ago. He is bred to handle the dirt, being by Scat Daddy. But that was an unbelievable performance. We weren’t sure how he would handle the distance but you have to say he saw it out pretty well.
"He is naturally quick and has a lot of tactical early speed. He did it the hard way but he did it so easily. He is very well bred, he has a great physique and you can see why he cost the lads a lot of money at the sales. We will look forward to going to Kentucky with him now. He is a terrific horse, really very exciting."
Asked about the Kentucky Derby, Moore said: “He’s got a beautiful pedigree, he’s got the form, he races forward and there’s plenty of experience now. But that's a different thing, a hard race with more runners, you can't compare it to today.”
D Watson trained and Patrick Dobbs ridden Rayya came in a strong second. The jockey said “She travelled around super in behind the leader. I saw William (jockey Buick, Gold Town) was struggling halfway round the bend and I thought there might be a chance of getting second. She stuck to her guns well as she got very tired up the straight, but she's very honest.”
S Asmussen trained and Javier Castellano ridden Reride came in third. The Jockey said “He ran a good race. He couldn’t go the pace early, but he was going on at the finish. I was happy with him.”
By Apurva Chavan, Racing Writer, apurva.chavan@secretariatsworld.com