I LOVE A 40-1 WINNER

Ben Morgan cashes in thanks to the Aidan O’Brien superstar’s Epsom heroics

- Ben Morgan

I left you in June on a bit of a cliffhanger. I had big returns hinging on three Classic hopes both here in the UK and in France. A lockdown spent speculating on this season’s Classics looked to be time well spent when Love hosed up in the 1,000 Guineas. A £10 double on her to win the Guineas and the Oaks at 40-1 looked a good punt at the time and the way she won the Guineas had me dreaming of big returns.

The Oaks cut up somewhat, probably due to how good Love looked at Newmarket, so I just needed Ryan Moore to keep things simple aboard this daughter of Pikaboo. Now, don’t get me wrong, I did think she was Aidan O’Brien’s top three-year-old filly, but I did not anticipate her to be the best three-year-old around this season nor did I anticipate her destroying the Oaks field by nine lengths. It was a mightily impressive performance which brought home plenty of profit but I was left wanting more (as usual). I was gutted I missed the big price about her for the Arc.

The Derby was up next and again throughout the lockdown period I developed a big fancy on Mogul. His reappearance at Ascot was exactly what I expected as he tired late but I was uber-confident he would be in the frame here.

What happened next would captivate the racing world, especially on social media. Emmet McNamara stole an easy lead on the front end aboard Serpentine (£2.50 e/w at 33-1) and as they came around Tattenham Corner it did look as if the others had let him slip. As he careered down the straight, it became evident that they had indeed let him slip and he managed to hang on quite comfortably to secure a phenomenal victory for his rider and his trainer.