Rubbin', son, is racin'...

In an absolutely brilliant ride by Johnny Murtagh, Soldier of Fortune powers home in the Juddmonte Coronation Cup at Epsom Downs on Friday.

After tracking a pair of his stablemates, Song of Hiawatha and Macarthur, through the first 9 furlongs, Johnny Murtagh moved on Soldier of Fortune, alongside 5-4 favorite Getaway, keeping the latter on the rail as they ran up on the tiring pacesetters. Stephane Pasquier had to take up on Getaway to keep him from running up on Macarthur, losing valuable ground and momentum inside the 2 furlong pole. Youmzain, ever the bridesmaid in these events, closed strongly to take the place 3/4 length behind the winner, Macarthur held on for the show. I think the stewards handed Murtagh a three day suspension for the tactics but they did not take his number down. I can't find any evidence of this and I'm too lazy to look that hard.

The Epsom Derby is tomorrow, going is good throughout with a nice day in store for southeast England. Here are the entries:

Epsom 4:00 VODAFONE DERBY (GROUP 1) (ENTIRE COLTS & FILLIES) (CLASS 1) (3yo) Winner £802,443.95 1m4f10y GOOD No. Form Horse Trainer RTF % Wgt Jockey 1(12) 1223-4 Alan Devonshire 28 M H Tompkins 64 3 9-0 Paul Mulrennan 115 106 2(1) 831-41 Alessandro Volta 28 A P O´Brien 74 3 9-0 J A Heffernan 122 97 3(9) 34-53 Bashkirov 27 A P O´Brien 74 3 9-0 David McCabe 99 101 4(2) 43-127 Bouguereau 27 P W Chapple-Hyam 70 3 9-0 Alan Munro 122 115 5(10) 1-1 Casual Conquest 27 D K Weld 58 3 9-0 P J Smullen 5 134 120 6(6) 2215-1 Curtain Call 45 L M Cumani 77 3 9-0 Jamie Spencer 127 115 7(13) 221-21 Doctor Fremantle 30 Sir Michael Stoute 88 3 9-0 Kerrin McEvoy 2 128 126 8(15) 18-2 Frozen Fire 23 A P O´Brien 74 3 9-0 M J Kinane 133 128 9(8) 211-21 Kandahar Run 35 H R A Cecil 50 3 9-0 Ted Durcan 122 112 10(11) 710-52 King Of Rome 28 A P O´Brien 74 3 9-0 J Murtagh 121 96 11(7) 0-5303 Maidstone Mixture 110 (13J) Paul Murphy — 3 9-0 Michael O´Connell - - 12(3) 111-22 New Approach 14 J S Bolger 57 3 9-0 K J Manning 3 137 131 13(17) 1214-2 Rio De La Plata 27 Saeed Bin Suroor 73 3 9-0 L Dettori 132 126 14(4) 817-43 River Proud 27 P F I Cole 26 3 9-0 DOUBTFUL 129 122 15(5) 10-1 Tajaaweed 29 Sir Michael Stoute 88 3 9-0 R Hills 132 128 16(14) 2-11 Tartan Bearer 23 Sir Michael Stoute 88 3 9-0 Ryan Moore 4 135 128 17(16) 4-22 Washington Irving 27 A P O´Brien 74 3 9-0 C O´Donoghue 119 109 BETTING FORECAST: 4/1 Casual Conquest, 9/2 Curtain Call, 5/1 New Approach, 6/1 Tartan Bearer, 8/1 Doctor Fremantle, 10/1 Tajaaweed, 14/1 King Of Rome, 16/1 Frozen Fire, 20/1 Kandahar Run, Rio De La Plata, 40/1 Alessandro Volta, Washington Irving, 150/1 Bouguereau, 200/1 Alan Devonshire, 500/1 Bashkirov, Maidstone Mixture, SPOTLIGHT VERDICT: Aidan O'Brien and Michael Stoute have won this four times in the last seven years and between them they have nearly half of today's field, but they may be upstaged by Dermot Weld who has an equally fine record on the international stage. His CASUAL CONQUEST (nap) looked a colt of huge talent and potential when running away with Ireland's most significant Derby trial at Leopardstown last month and he will be very well suited by today's trip. The Stoute trio all came through their trials successfully but there has to be a stamina doubt about Tajaaweed, so Tartan Bearer and Doctor Fremantle look his main players and both have solid frame claims. In contrast, only Alessandro Volta of the O'Brien quintet comes here with a win to his name this season but it is his Lingfield victim King Of Rome, who has a highly unlikely profile for a Derby winner, that Johnny Murtagh has surprisingly opted for and it will be a good result for Ballydoyle if any of their contenders make the frame. New Approach and Curtain Call are easily most interesting of the remainder.[AC] Copied from racingpost.co.uk I like Tartan Bearer at 6-1.