More success for Barzalona

Mickael Barzalona, the part-time Godolphin rider, shattered a British dream of seeing Carlton House win the English Derby when he partnered Pour Moi to victory at Epsom.

EPSOM, England// Mickael Barzalona, the part-time Godolphin rider, shattered a British dream of seeing Carlton House win the English Derby yesterday when he partnered Pour Moi to victory with an audacious piece of race riding.

It was Barzalona's first ride in the 223-year-old contest but the 19-year-old Corsican took no prisoners as he coolly switched on the accelerator in the Epsom straight to weave past all 12 of his rivals, including the horse given to Queen Elizabeth II by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Godolphin's Ocean War finished 11th and jockey Frankie Dettori reported that his mount did not handle the track.

So enthralled was Barzalona that metres before the finish line he stood up high in his irons and waved his whip towards the grandstands in a manner reminiscent of Usain Bolt's celebrations in the 100 metres of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"It is a fantastic feeling. It took Frankie Dettori 15 years to win this race and I won it today on my first go," Barzalona said.

"It was always the plan to stay out the back. I had passed all the horses and there was no way they were going to come back to me. I have no idea why I stood up, I just did."

The youthful exuberance did not go down well with the Epsom stewards, who had banned Dettori on Friday for dropping his hands on Blue Bunting.

Barzalona was suspended for the final day of Royal Ascot, June 19, for excessive use of the whip. He was also warned about his celebrations.

It was also a first win in the race for Andre Fabre, the French trainer who previously had sent over the Channel nine horses without success.

Barzalona has been apprenticed to Fabre in Chantilly for nearly three years and the 65-year-old was quick to praise the youngest rider to win the Derby since Walter Swinburn guided Shergar round in 1981.

"Finally, I have tried so long," Fabre said. "It was a pleasure that Mickael is a home-made jockey and I have total confidence in him. I know his family well.

"It is such a pleasure to win this race under these conditions, with a young jockey and big crowd. I couldn't be more happy."

Fabre has compared Pour Moi to his 1997 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner, Peintre Celebre, who won the French middle-distance championship by five lengths.

Fabre confirmed that after a midseason break Pour Moi will head to Longchamp, where he could face Workforce, last year's English Derby winner, and So You Think, the exciting Australian horse now trained by Aidan O'Brien.

All the signs were there last week when Fabre brought Pour Moi and Barzalona to Epsom for an exploratory run during the track's Breakfast With the Stars event. Pour Moi performed a routine canter over the contours of the course before Fabre told the assembled media that this was his best chance in the Derby.

Fabre also added: "I understand that I won't be popular if I win, but I look forward to beating Her Majesty's horse, Carlton House."

Carlton House was pushed wide as the field came around Tattenham Corner, but as Ryan Moore, his jockey, corrected him and pushed for home it appeared for a fleeting moment that he would secure the first Derby winner for a reigning monarch in 102 years.

"It was a messy race," said John Warren, bloodstock adviser to the Queen. "Ryan is disappointed. He said some horses came back on him and could not get into the rhythm he wanted.

"As a consequence he had to make his run from further back than he wanted."

The final shot