After his brilliant winning debut over 1,400 metres on 23 May, the Niels Petersen-trained Lord Of The Moon was back at Klampenborg on Friday evening to try the grandstand turn in the Derby Test over 2,200 metres. And the Sea The Moon son gave another masterclass, this time with eight lengths to spare over Lindeboy and Nevermore.
Lord Of The Moon jumped smartly from the stalls, and Carlos Lopez steered his horse forward to share the lead with the Søren Jensen-trained Nevermore (Gleneagles).
In his first attempt around Klampenborg’s sharp grandstand turn, Lord Of The Moon drifted somewhat out in the track, but got help from the more experienced Lindeboy (Moohaajim) to come round nicely and out onto the back straight.
There Lopez quickly turned up the tempo, so that at one point the red-hot favourite had more than 10 lengths on his rivals. Heading towards the home turn, Lindeboy was the only one to close, and there was not much between the two horses at the entrance to the straight.
Per-Anders Gråberg, however, was soon hard at work to keep pace with Carlos Lopez, who could sit motionless considerably longer before issuing the final marching orders to Lord Of The Moon.
And then it happened fast. Lord Of The Moon drew further and further away from Lindeboy and finally crossed the line eight lengths clear of his rival, while Nevermore, finishing well under Jules Mobian, took third half a length behind the runner-up.
Then followed the debutant Golden Eye (Gleneagles) six lengths further back, with another 17 lengths to Gert (Giant Sandman) in fifth.
Lord Of The Moon collected DKK 22,000 for his victory in the Derby Test, but far more importantly he got another run into him on the Klampenborg grass, and he received – unsurprisingly – confirmation that a longer trip suits him perfectly.
The chestnut colt’s sire, Sea The Moon (Sea The Stars), won the Deutsches Derby (Gr.1), and his dam Queen Rouge (Lord Of England) won the Danish Derby in the colours of Karin Salling – the same colours now carried by the Stutteri Hjortebo-bred Lord Of The Moon.
Whether Lord Of The Moon gets another trip to Klampenborg in July to contest the Derby Trial Stakes, or whether Niels Petersen next lets him polish his form in a big-race setting at Øvrevoll or Bro Park, is not yet known – but what is certain is that the Bucherer Danish Derby on 1 August is the great goal of the year.
