Anthony Van Dyck wins Epsom Derby

June 1 (UPI) -- Anthony Van Dyck found a gap between the leaders approaching the finish in Saturday's Derby at Epsom Downs, shot through and ran on to win by 1/2 length, giving trainer Aidan O'Brien his seventh triumph in the Classic.

The judges took a long look before sorting out the minor placings from a line of four rivals across the track. Eventally, Madhmoon was allocated second. Japan and Broome, two more of O'Brien's seven starters, were third and fourth.

The disappointment on the day was Telecaster, dispatched as the third-favorite and reporting last of the 13. The New Approach colt, supplemented to the Derby at a cost of 85,000 pounds sterling after winning the Dubai Dante Stakes a York, tired badly in the lane was eased by jockey Oisin Murphy.

Anthony Van Dyck, a son of the star Coolmore stallion Galileo, won a pair of Group races in Ireland as a 2-year-old but wound up his year finishing ninth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Churchill Downs behind winner, Line of Duty. Line of Duty, after racing prominently, finished ninth Saturday at Epsom.

Coolmore's various partnerships secured their eighth Derby victory -- a record that includes Galileo's win in 2001.

Anthony Van Dyck prepped for the Derby with a victory in the Derby Trial at Lingfield on May 11. Ryan Moore rode him that day but opted to partner the favorite, Sir Dragonet, in the Derby, leaving Anthony Van Dyck to Seamie Heffernan, who won the race for the first time in his 12th start. Sir Dragonet, supplemented to the big race after an eye-catching victory in the Grade III Chester Vase, weakened late to finish fifth.

Heffernan said he had to take a hold on Anthony Van Dyck early in the race, then followed Sir Dragonet, "which I thought was the big danger."

"I had to take a hold from two [furlongs] down, which probably helped as it's hard pushing the whole way down the straight. He's a Galileo, so I knew that he would be with me when I needed him," added Heffernan, who rode Galileo early in his career before handing that one over to Mick Kinane for the Derby.

O'Brien said the win was for the entire team at Coolmore and his Ballydoyle training center in Ireland.

"The boss [Coolmore partner John Magnier] always says that the Derby is the Holy Grail and it is the backbone of the Thoroughbred. This is the ultimate test," O'Brien said.

Of his seven starters in the 13-colt Derby field, O'Brien said, "You don't know what horse is going to handle the track, the preliminaries, whether they will have the stamina.

"Anthony Van Dyck is a very solid horse. He danced every dance last year and did everything we asked of him. He ran a very good trial when winning at Lingfield. He passed all the tests, to be fair to him," the trainer added.