Legs didn't go on the ground Jockey Colm O'Donoghue felt Daddy Long Legs failed to handle the dirt surface at Churchill Downs as he trailed home last in the Kentucky Derby. Aidan O'Brien's charge won the UAE Derby on Tapeta at Meydan in March and connections were hopeful he could handle a switch in surface. However, after racing with the pace early on, Daddy Long Legs soon faded out of it and O'Donoghue eased up once his chance had gone. The rider said: "He broke really good from the gates and he travelled really well down to the six-furlong marker, but the surface was too slow for him. He needs a really sound surface. "In American terms the track is rated 'fast' and obviously the fractions are really quick, but he really needs a sound surface where he can really feel everything underneath him. "He was fine (breaking from stall one). He had loads of tactical speed and he's able to stop-start, but he found that the surface is just too slow for him. "There's just that difference between the Tapeta surface, obviously, and the dirt. "In the lane he was really backing off and they were coming around him, so when he wasn't handling it, I wasn't going to push him. He's got a long year ahead," he told www.kentuckyderby.com. On-course vet Dr Larry Bramlage said the colt overheated but was fine after getting some water and being swabbed down. He said: "His rider knew what was happening and just quit asking him." Winner I'll Have Another is set to stay at Churchill Downs for the immediate future before moving on to Pimlico, where he will challenge for the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, on May 19. Trainer Doug O'Neill said: "We'll stay at Churchill. He likes this track. "I think the game plan now, as long as he comes out of it good right now, is to stay at Churchill and head to Pimlico. We're going to Maryland."
