HORSE RACING: High Chaparral and Hawk Wing are unlikely to face each other again after their epic clash in Saturday's Epsom Derby.
Aidan O'Brien indicated yesterday that High Chaparral will follow the route taken by last year's champion Galileo and run next in the Budweiser Irish Derby. "Obviously the Irish Derby is a strong possible for High Chaparral. Both he and Hawk Wing seem fine and were in good form this morning.
"Hawk Wing is more of a possible for the Eclipse at Sandown. He is a very fast horse and going back might suit him better.
"I would not rule him in or out from running over a mile and a half again, but we will try and split them up. They are two very good colts and really they were both winners at Epsom because they both proved themselves to be exceptional," O'Brien said.
Saturday's 1-2 in the most famous classic in the world was the first for 54 years and High Chaparral provided 32-year-old O'Brien with his second successive Derby winner.
It was also a second victory for John Murtagh, who stepped in for the High Chaparral ride after Michael Kinane chose the 9 to 4 favourite Hawk Wing.
That contributed to the winner drifting to 7 to 2, but High Chaparral emerged a two lengths winner, with third, Moon Ballad, a remarkable 12 lengths further back. High Chaparral , like Galileo, won the same two trial races at Leopardstown before going to Epsom.
The handicappers have decided he will arrive at the Curragh with the same rating that Galileo achieved after his first Derby success.
"It is an interim finding but we have put High Chapparal at 126 and Hawk Wing at 123.
"Galileo was 126 after Epsom and that is the highest mark since 1995. It was definitely an above average Derby for recent years," the Irish handicapper, Gary O'Gorman, said yesterday.
"Myself and Nigel Gray in Britain made Jelani (fourth) our yardstick, and it could be that it is a conservative rating. It was 12 lengths back to the third and the time was far from slow".
High Chaparral is the 11th Irish -trained Derby winner since the war and the third in a row.
The Derby fifth, Fight Your Corner, is recovering from surgery which saw three screws inserted into his hind cannon bone.
