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Racing: Motivator the Magnificent Races to Glory

Posted on: Sunday, 5 June 2005, 09:00 CDT

Motivator, the favourite, produced an imperious performance here yesterday to win the 226th Derby by five sizzling lengths. His rider, Johnny Murtagh, is making a hobby of collecting Blue Ribands; it was his third in six years. But for trainer Michael Bell it was a fairytale first. And the latest Derby winner has more delirious owners than all the rest of them put together, for he runs in the colours of the 230 members of the Royal Ascot Racing Club.

It was only on Wednesday that Murtagh knew he would be riding the colt. His place in the saddle had been threatened by a rules infringement at a minor meeting, but an appeal against a ban went in his favour. The Irishman said then that it would complete the story were he to win, and right from the start every page turned smoothly for him. Never worse than fourth as Almighty, Grand Central and Hattan vied for dominance and ensured a level, fair gallop, the colt came down the difficult descent to Tattenham Corner as if on rails and faced the long run to the winning post with gears in hand.

Two furlongs out, Murtagh pulled him out from behind Hattan, the last of the leaders to fade, showed him daylight and gave him one smack. The response was instant and impressive; Motivator quickened as only a high- class horse can and powered clear. Dubawi's class took him through the field into second place, but neither his speed nor his stamina were enough to threaten the leader and he was run down for the runner-up spot by fast- finishing French raider Walk In The Park. Fracas, plugging on for fourth, was best of the Irish.

Murtagh scored on Sinndar by a length in 2000 and on High Chaparral by two three years ago. Whether or not Motivator, now unbeaten in four runs, proves as good as either remains in the future, but the jockey rates his Epsom performance better than both. 'If a Derby win can be easy, this one was,' he said, 'much easier than my other two. I hardly had a moment's worry. He jumped well from the stalls and as he's got a lot of natural speed the thing I was worried about was a slow pace. But Seb [Sanders, on Hattan] and Pat [Smullen, on Almighty] went on and mine was fine in behind them.

'Coming down the hill I couldn't believe how easily I was going. At the two marker I gave him a smack. And you saw what happened. I knew I'd gone clear, and I had a sneaky peek behind, but I couldn't see anything. But I was concentrating on keeping him going and in balance, making sure he didn't spook at the crowd. He is maturing, though, and ran home as straight as an arrow. He's a very high- class horse and there's a lot more to come.'

Motivator is a son of the fiery, brilliant Montjeu and much has been made of his feisty temperament. One of Bell's attentions to detail was to give Motivator a practice awayday at the course last month and it seemed to have paid dividends, as the colt comported himself with decorum while being saddled and during the pre-race parade in front of the packed stands. It was only as he circled down at the start that a little tenseness emerged, but no more, really, than from any high-mettled racer.

'He's not that much more excitable than many others,' said Newmarket- based Bell, 'it's just because he's had a high profile that it's been noticed. The build-up has been a worry, you just hope all the time that nothing goes wrong. But I enjoyed the race. Johnny said beforehand he'd sit handy, and I wasn't too sure, but I left it to him, as he's the one who has won Derbys before. And where he was, he was never going to meet traffic problems. What was especially pleasing was that the horse has never had a backhander before, and that acceleration he produced is going to stand him in very good stead indeed.'

The race was a triumph for the young stallion Montjeu. His own superlative sire Sadler's Wells did not get a Derby winner until his 16th crop; Montjeu, winner of an Arc and a King George, has done it with his first batch of foals, and for good measure Walk In The Park is another of his sons.

Frankie Dettori, still without a Derby, had no luck on his 13th attempt and Dubawi will now drop back in trip for the St James's Palace Stakes at York. Kieren Fallon, going for his third in a row, could manage only fifth on the second favourite Gypsy King, one place in front of gallant Hattan. Kong, a donkey, not a king, was last to finish in a field reduced to 13 by the withdrawal of lame outsider First Row at the start.

Winning the Derby while unbeaten is one thing; remaining unbeaten is quite another. Only nine Epsom heroes have achieved the feat, most recently Lammtarra, who won here on his second outing. The three-year-old middle- distance circus assembles in Paris this afternoon for the first running of the Prix du Jockey-Club over its controversial shorter distance of an extended ten furlongs.

The 17 runners are headed by another Montjeu colt, the Andre Fabre-trained Hurricane Run, described recently by Walk In The Park's trainer John Hammond as 'not just the best I've seen in France, but the best I've seen in Europe'. Godolphin's champion juvenile Shamardal, Mick Channon's Rocamadour and William Muir's Mister Genepi travel from Britain, and Scorpion and his pacemaker Falstaff represent the Ballydoyle team.

DERBY DETAILS

1 Motivator (J Murtagh) 3-1 Fav

2 Walk In The Park (A Munro) 8-1

3 Dubawi (L Dettori) 5-1

4 Fracas (J P Spencer) 8-1

Winning trainer: M Bell

Winning owner: Royal Ascot Racing

Distances: 5, 3, 1

Source: Independent on Sunday, The

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