It’s fair to say that last Saturday’s Irish Derby wasn’t a vintage renewal, but it produced a brilliant winner in British raider Westover, who gave Colin Keane his first win in the race.

Trained by Ralph Beckett, Westover was an unlucky third in the Epsom Derby having run into traffic late on, but his trip around the Curragh could not have been more simple. He sat second for Keane from early on, took up the running early in the straight and powered to a seven-length victory, with his main market rival, Aidan O’Brien’s Tuesday, toiling back in fourth.

Earlier in the week the colt’s owners Juddmonte announced that Keane would take over from Westover’s usual jockey Rob Hornby, citing the Meath native’s local knowledge as the main reason. That move was decried by plenty who felt sympathy for the British jockey, but it was perfectly logical and Keane revealed after the race that Hornby was very helpful to him.

“I suppose every jockey says the Epsom Derby is the race they want to win but it’s just amazing to win by home Derby,” he said.

“Fair dues to Rob Hornby. I rang him this morning and he told me everything I needed to know about the horse. Rob is a true gentleman and told me that he’d get the trip well and would hit the line well.”

Westover will be a threat in all the mile-and-a-half races this season, though he was well beaten at Epsom by Desert Crown, whose form looks even stronger now.

The other Group 1 last weekend, the Pretty Polly Stakes went to Tipperary, for a first Group 1 win for Paddy Twomey whose La Petite Coco ran out a game winner.

It rained profusely on the Curragh throughout Sunday and that was liquid gold for this filly, who has no problem getting through soft ground. That said, this was a serious performance, as it was her first run of the season so she may well have lacked fitness. She will be a huge threat to all this season.

Her trainer has progressed significantly over the last five years or so, acquiring plenty of quality horses. He mostly deals with fillies and mares for owner-breeders and has a quality-over-quantity approach that has yielded a win rate of 34%, the envy of any trainer in the world.