Aidan O’Brien won the Oaks for the 10th time on Friday when Tuesday got the better of a brilliant finish with Emily Upjohn, but the Ballydoyle trainer’s three Derby runners had no answer for the brilliant winner Desert Crown on Saturday.

Shergar gave Sir Michael Stoute a first Derby winner all of 41 years ago and Desert Crown made it a super six for the Newmarket trainer on Saturday, when he became the oldest trainer to saddle a Derby winner at 76.

Ridden by Richard Kingscote, having just his second ride in the Derby, Desert Crown cruised through the 12-furlong contest and looked all over the winner two furlongs out.

He picked up well to take up the running and powered home from the 150/1 shot Hoo Ya Mal.

O’Brien’s Changingoftheguard did best of the Irish in fifth, just ahead of his more fancied stablemate Stone Age, while Donnacha O’Brien’s Piz Badile, ridden by Frankie Dettori, could only manage 12th.

Desert Crown, a 280,000 guineas yearling purchase last October, was remarkably having just his third run in the Derby and now has the whole season at his feet. One of his options is the Irish Derby at the Curragh on June 25th.

Nicely balanced

Reflecting on the colt’s win, Stoute said: “I think his temperament (sets him apart from others) and he is a very nicely-balanced horse so I thought he would handle the track very well. The jockey was pretty calm and he gave him a lovely ride.

“All those Derby winners have to be good mentally as they go through a lot. There is nowhere else you canter a mile and a half to post and hang around. They have got to have a good mind.”

A day earlier, it was O’Brien celebrating a pulsating win for Tuesday, who emulated her big sister Minding, by winning the Oaks.

A crucial moment in the race came just as the gates opened when the favourite Emily Upjohn stumbled and lost significant ground.

That lost ground certainly made the difference between victory and defeat because at the end of the race there was just a short-head between the pair.

Tuesday will most likely aim for an Oaks double at the Curragh on July 16th.

Attention turns to Royal Ascot now next week where five days of really top class action is in store with stars like Baaeed, American sprinter Golden Pal and Coroebus kick the meeting off with a bang on Tuesday.

There will be plenty of Irish representation, particularly from O’Brien and his son Joseph, but also from Dermot Weld whose Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Homeless Songs is one of the shortest priced favourites of the week, which is no surprise considering she breezed five lengths past Tuesday when the pair met at the Curragh.