Irish Derby 2017 betting odds & preview – 1st July, 2017

French-trained challenger a huge threat at Curragh

Horse Racing Betting

Saturday, July 1st sees the top Irish Classic the Irish Derby get its renewal at Curragh. Heading up the market is Wings of Eagles and Cracksman as joint 9/4 favourites but there is a dangerous French challenger just behind them in the form of Waldgeist who is trading at 3/1 with bet365. What makes this an interesting feature race this year is that usually, you will see a strong market favourite from the Epsom Derby, who should have run a good race there, trading well in this one.

But the Epsom clash was won by Wings of Eagles at a massive 40/1 price, so he was nowhere near the favourites for the race, so what do punters do for this one now? Wings of Eagles sort of impressed on the day, but at the same time, didn’t. It wasn’t a particularly outstanding or great run from him, none of the field really responded to the occasion well enough and it was Wings of Eagle who just looked that little bit better than everyone else on the day.

But who knows, if Jim Crowley hadn’t have dropped his whip on Eminent, the story could have been much different. Wings of Eagles, trained by Aiden O’Brien is not the most reliable of charges for punters though because of a volatile temperament and even connections close to him were a bit surprised by his Epsom victory.

Cracksman, running for John Gosden, who has a rich history in Ireland, came home third at Epsom by a neck after going off as the favourite. Truthfully punters will probably see more value on Wings of Eagles at the same price as Cracksman who didn’t do anything around Epsom to seriously make the challenge for the line and just never looked settled around the course at any point. It can be argued that he is an improving horse, but he’s not there yet.

So the last time that there was a French-trained winner of the Irish Derby was in 2005 with Hurricane Run taking the title. Andre Fabre has a great shot at winning his third Irish Derby though this year, with Waldgeist in this year’s renewal. Waldgeist was a winner of the Criterium de Saint-Cloud, with Wings of Eagles finishing behind him and he looks primed for the Irish Derby and his second place finish at Chantilly will have pleased backers too.

If the pace is up in the Irish Derby on Saturday, then Waldgeist has the power to sweep this one. He looks the most assured of the front runners and with the doubts over the joint-favourites, all of the value at bet365 is sitting on Fabre’s main selection in this one. He will relish the challenge of stamina and at 3/1 will have plenty of backing. You look down the Irish Derby field at Spatial and Douglas Macarthur and Waldgeist beat both of them at the Criterium de Saint-Cloud along with Wings of Eagles.

Irish Derby 2017 Winner Odds

Wings of Eagles 9/4, Cracksman 9/4, Wales 3/1, Capri 10/1, Douglas Macarthur 12/1, Venice Beach 16/1, Grandee 25/1, Taj Mahal 33/1, Spanish Steps 33/1, Dubai Sand 50/1, The Anvil 50/1, Finn McCool 100/1.

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