Europe road to Ky. Derby: O’Brien, Moore take lead with Cairo
Cairo, sent off as a 1-3 favorite in Ireland and 1-9 in the U.S., set himself up for a trip to the Middle East this month by pulling away to a two-length victory Friday night at Dundalk, Ireland, in the $40,000 Patton Stakes, the fifth of seven races on the Europe road to Kentucky Derby 2023.
“He’ll go to Dubai for the UAE Derby (G2) on dirt,” said Chris Armstrong, who represented trainer Aidan O’Brien on Friday. “It'd be nice if he did end up (in the Kentucky Derby).”
By winning the race worth 20-8-6-4-2 points to the top five finishers, the Quality Road colt bred and owned by Coolmore vaulted to the top of the Europe qualifying standings. The UAE Derby is a 100-40-30-20-10 points race on the main road to the Kentucky Derby and likely will qualify its top two finishers to Churchill Downs.
Cairo, who is trained by five-time Patton winner Aidan O’Brien, was nominated for the Triple Crown and may be following the same path as Mendelssohn, another Coolmore runner who won the Patton and UAE Derby in 2018 before finishing last in the Kentucky Derby.
Ryan Moore quickly rode Cairo forward out of the gate Friday to start the one-turn mile on the Polytrack course. He went eyeball to eyeball with Ti Amo Sempre (150-1 Ireland, 87-1 U.S.), who gave up the lead with about 300 yards to go.
As Cairo pulled away, News At Ten (6-1, 6-1) made up ground but was not a serious threat. He finished second, 1 1/4 lengths ahead of third-place Stormy Entry (7-1, 9-1), a Charles Fipke homebred by Point of Entry who was the only other Triple Crown nominee in the field of eight.
Cash Out (14-1, 20-1) finished fourth, and Miss Caruso (50-1, 51-1) took fifth, giving them Derby qualifying points, too. All Things Nice (50-1, 29-1), Tiverton (14-1, 19-1) and Ti Amo Sempre ran behind them in that order.
The winning time was 1:40.48 without a run-up. Cairo ran his record to 5: 3-2-0 with a win and a second on the all-weather track at Dundalk. His earnings have reached $45,921.
A maximum of one Kentucky Derby invitation will go to a horse based in Europe, where the last two qualifying races will be the Road to the Kentucky Derby Condition Stakes at Kempton on March 15 and the Cardinal Condition Stakes at Chelmsford City on April 1. The March race is worth 20-8-6-4-2 points, the April race 30-12-9-6-3.
These were the Europe road to the Kentucky Derby standings after Friday’s running of the Patton:
| Europe road to Ky. Derby | Points | **Earnings |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cairo* | 20 | $66,045 |
| Belbek | 10 | $279,323 |
| Auguste Rodin | 10 | $222,687 |
| The Foxes | 10 | $76,913 |
| Crypto Force | 10 | $69,768 |
| News At Ten | 8 | $8,079 |
| 2. Stormy Entry* | 6 | $3,932 |
| Gamestop | 4 | $101,588 |
| Epictetus | 4 | $64,909 |
| Adelaide River | 4 | $39,267 |
| Dubai Mile | 4 | $29,159 |
| Cash Out | 4 | $1,701 |
| Holloway Boy | 3 | $158,185 |
| Breizh Sky | 3 | $91,301 |
| Flying Honours | 3 | $39,968 |
| Young Ireland | 3 | $12,833 |
| Shartash | 2 | $160,989 |
| Dancing Magic | 2 | $26,226 |
| 3. Greenland* | 2 | $9,011 |
| Roaring Gallagher | 2 | $5,814 |
| Miss Caruso | 2 | $850 |
| Vicious Harry | 1 | $64,540 |
| Lakota Seven | 1 | $12,227 |
| Salt Lake City | 1 | $0 |
| *Triple Crown nominee | ||
| **Non-restricted stakes |