Gormley won the $1 million Santa Anita Derby by a half-length Saturday in the West’s major prep for the Kentucky Derby.
Ridden by Victor Espinoza, Gormley ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.16 and paid $14.40 to win at 6-1 odds in Southern California.
Battle of Midway was second, followed by Royal Mo and Reach the World in fourth.
Illiad, the 3-1 favorite, finished fifth in the 13-horse field.
John Shirreffs trains Gormley and Royal Mo for owners Jerry and Ann Moss, who teamed to win the 2005 Kentucky Derby with 50-1 shot Giacomo.
Gormley earned 100 points in the system used to determine the 20-horse field for next month’s Kentucky Derby.
Everything in Irap’s record suggested him being an afterthought behind unbeaten favorite McCraken. Of his previous seven starts he had three seconds, three fourths and a third.
All of which made the 31-1 longshot’s breakthrough upset in the $1 million, Grade 2 race at Keeneland as sweet as it was surprising — to everyone except jockey Julien Leparoux, that is.
He always believed winning was within Irap’s reach.
“All his races, three seconds, they were good races,” Leparoux said after his second Blue Grass victory and first since 2013. “I just tried to do my best. ... We had the perfect trip, we hoped for it and it became reality.”
Irap ($64.60) was a player from the start in the seven-horse field in Lexington, Kentucky, and he held his ground throughout before taking charge to cover 1 1/8 mile in 1:50.39.
He pulled away from 7-2 third choice Practical Joke in the stretch to win by 3/4 length, not only becoming the first to earn his maiden victory in the Blue Grass but snatch 100 points McCraken was expected to win as the 8-5 favorite.
Ahead is a discussion between Irap’s connections and trainer Doug O’Neill, who was at the Santa Anita Derby, on whether Churchill Downs is ahead.
As for McCraken, he was in the hunt and found room in the stretch, but making up so much ground proved to be too much and he faded. He won the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis on Feb. 11 before an ankle injury kept him out of the Tampa Bay Derby, but his Blue Grass workouts were strong.
Irap turned out being stronger and finally has a big victory to show for it.
Irish War Cry won the $750,000 race by 3 1/2 lengths at Aqueduct in New York, bouncing back from a poor performance in his previous start.
Ridden by Rajiv Maragh, Irish War Cry ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.91 on Saturday, earning 100 points on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard for the victory. The 3-year-old colt paid $9 to win for trainer Graham Motion.
Irish War Cry faded to seventh in the Fountain of Youth after dominating the Holy Bull.
Battalion Runner, co-favorite at 2-1 with Cloud Computing, earned 40 points. Cloud Computing earned 20 points, while 21-1 shot True Timber finished fourth and collected 10 points in the system used to determine the 20-horse starting field for next month’s Kentucky Derby.
