Delphi and Wayne Lordan (near side) beat Sacramento in the Royal County Handicap© Photo Healy Racing
Delphi (3/1) followed up his recent Curragh maiden win when taking the Royal County 3-y-o Handicap by a neck from Sacramento
The Galileo colt has been given time, and just had the one unplaced run as a juvenile.
Fitted with blinkers, he showed good resolution at the Curragh and it was a similar story here as he made just about all and found plenty off the bridle. Sonnyboyliston was short of room at a crucial point in the straight before running on fo rthird, while the 15/8 favourite Protagonist weakened in the final furlong to finish eighth.
Winning rider Wayne Lordan, who remains at home this weekend to ride at Naas and Cork rather than taking part in the Epsom Derby, rode the winner for Aidan O’Brien.
Lordan said: “He's a grand horse. He saves plenty and we seen that in the Curragh over a mile.
“He was going to be better stepping up to a mile-and-a-quarter and I think he'll be better again going up to a mile-and-a-half.
“He likes a battle and I just had to roll off the rail a little bit to get over near the horse that challenged me.
"It helped to see him so he could battle. The minute he saw him he put his head down and went forward.”
Additional reporting by Gary Carson
