Martyn Meade rues Jim Crowley’s misfortune in the Derby on Eminent
Eminent finished fourth in the Epsom Classic but Meade was left to wonder what might have been had Crowley not dropped his whip at a crucial time in the race
MARTYN MEADE has put champion jockey Jim Crowley’s Derby shocker on Eminent down to ‘bad luck’.
Crowley finished fourth, beaten less than two lengths in the Epsom thriller won by 40-1 outsider Wings Of Eagles.
Yet Meade believes Eminent did not get the run of the race and would have finished closer if Crowley had not dropped his whip two furlongs out.
Meade groaned: “I’m disappointed as the race didn’t work out as we anticipated.
“You must have luck in running in a Derby. A few things didn’t go our way.
“One thing I didn’t want was for him to be held up and that’s what happened.
MOST READ
“He broke so well but the very next minute he was right back and unable to use his stride.
“I don’t want to be critical from that point of view as Jim has to ride the race how he finds it.
“Unfortunately Jim lost his whip.
“They squeezed him out, but you are not going to be able to squeeze through past jockeys as strong as Frankie Dettori and Ryan Moore without a whip.
“I’m not saying we’d have won as he came down the outside with a wet sail, but we would have been second or third.
“Maybe we have now got rid of our bad luck.”
Eminent will now have a break before being put back into work for the ten-furlong Coral-Eclipse on July 8, also the target of Cliffs Of Moher.
Meade said: “No doubt a race like he had will take its toll on any three-year-old and he has lost a bit of weight. He does look great, but he is a big horse and will need a bit of time.
“The best thing is he lives to fight another day.”