O'Brien holds powerful hand in Investec Derby Given what he has achieved already in his career, Aidan O'Brien could be forgiven for treating the Investec Derby as just another race, but the fact he seems so desperate to win it every year is proof even the master of Ballydoyle still holds the Classic above all others. O'Brien has won the blue riband event five times already, most recently with Australia in 2014, and when you realise the legendary Vincent O'Brien, his predecessor at Ballydoyle, only managed six then you begin to register just what the quietly-spoken man behind the glasses will surely go on to achieve. Nothing is a given in racing, we all know that, but bookmakers would surely offer long odds about O'Brien not becoming the most successful trainer in Derby history in a few years' time. This year he saddles five, all with some sort of a chance, but the fact Ryan Moore rides US Army Ranger suggests the Chester Vase winner is O'Brien's first string, despite not impressing everybody that day in beating stablemate Port Douglas. "With him, we obviously knew there was a chance that he might find Chester very strange," said O'Brien. "Ideally, we would have preferred a faster pace which would have made it a little more straightforward for the second half of the race. "Port Douglas was idle and lazy in front and did not go very fast and only started to race when US Army Ranger joined him. "When he came up the straight, he was in cruise control, rather than galloping, and hopefully that was greenness. "Ryan went down the rail on US Army Ranger and Port Douglas was on his right, leaning on top of him, and the third was on his left. "Ryan felt he never changed over when he turned so he went up the straight in cruise control rather than getting down to it. We think, and hope, that was greenness. He should come on and learn a lot from the race. "He was a maiden who never ran at two and he was working with all these Group horses. He is a baby and this is only his third run. He was very green at Chester and we thought he would be. "He is a very exciting horse with an awful lot of class - he is a big, rangy horse with a big stride." Port Douglas will again tackle US Army Ranger, but this time wearing blinkers, with Dante Stakes runner-up Deauville and Derrinstown Trial second and third, Shogun and Idaho, also lining up for Ballydoyle. "Port Douglas is a very solid horse and was giving US Army Ranger 4lb at Chester," said O'Brien. "He is not a big horse and should handle the track. "Deauville is a very good-moving horse and likes a bit of good ground. "We were very happy with him in the Dante and you could not be happier except that John's (Gosden) horse (Wings Of Desire) came and got him. "Idaho is another horse who ran a big race at Leopardstown - Seamus (Heffernan) rode him to be third and was very happy. "Shogun is a brother to Qualify (last year's Oaks winner), who ran mid-division in the Irish Guineas and improved totally when she stepped up in trip. Shogun stepped up a lot when we ran him over a mile and a quarter."
