Unbeaten Crossfirehurricane one of 15 runners in Irish Derby A field of 15 has been declared for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby on Saturday and the O’Brien family will be well represented. Aidan O’Brien has half a dozen runners to represent him, Sherpa is a first Irish Derby runner for Donnacha O’Brien and his brother Joseph (victorious with Latrobe in 2018) runs the supplemented New York Girl and the unbeaten Crossfirehurricane. The latter, a son of Kitten’s Joy, has won all four starts, and stepped up successfully to Stakes company when taking the Group 3 Gallinule Stakes at the Curragh earlier this month. 3lbs claimer Shane Crosse has won three times on him and keeps the ride as his mount tries 12f for the first time. On the prospects of the Scott Heider-owned chestnut, Joseph O'Brien remarked: "Throughout his whole career he’s been progressive. Each run he’s taken a big step up. "He ran a career best last time at the Curragh over ten furlongs and he earned his spot in the Derby by winning the Gallinule. "He had a couple of runs on the all-weather, won both of them impressively, and then last time probably was the most impressive win of his career going 10f for the first time. "Obviously, the Irish Derby is another step up, it’s 12f, but if you’re not in, you can’t win. He’s a tough colt with a fantastic attitude and a huge will to win. "He’s untested on slow ground, really. I know it wasn’t firm when he won his maiden but I suppose a lot depends on how much rain falls between now and race day. "I would probably be a little bit worried if the ground was soft. He certainly handles the all-weather very well and won very well on good to firm last time." Arthur’s Kingdom, Dawn Patrol, Iberia, Order of Australia, Santiago and Tiger Moth are the Ballydoyle runners in the race. On the unusual lead-up to this year’s renewal, Aidan O’Brien, bidding for his 14th win in the race, observed: “A very unusual year, really. It’s obviously the first time all these horses are going to go over a mile and a half, probably on the fairest mile and a half in the world. "Horses are going to come from out of the clouds in this race. Nobody is going to know what’s what until after this race over 12f. It’s so exciting, it’s incredible really. "You can go to Epsom every year and you can have hard luck stories. You can come back and say maybe if I’d done this or done that, but that doesn’t happen at the Curragh. "After the Curragh we’ll know who’s the best mile and a half horse and what horses need to drop back to a mile and a quarter, what horses need to go back to a mile. "That’s always the best thing about the Curragh. You know where you’re going after it, we always think”
