Aidan O'Brien pair miss out in Belmont Derby as Henley's Joy springs surprise

Aidan O'Brien, who last month won the Derby and Irish equivalent with Anthony Van Dyck and Sovereign, missed out as he tried to claim the Belmont Derby in New York on Saturday as Cape Of Good Hope and Blenheim Palace finished down the field behind surprise winner Henley's Joy.

The Ballydoyle ace captured the £1 million event in 2016 with Deauville, but Epsom Listed winner Cape Of Good Hope came sixth after a wide trip under Wayne Lordan, while Derrinstown second Blenheim Palace, handy early on for Michael Hussey, faded into 12th of 14.

Henley's Joy, on the other hand, produced a game display to record his biggest victory – one connections of the Mike Maker-trained colt felt he merited.

"It's such a big race to win and it's so important, but for this particular horse, he's had the worst racing luck and he's just been so honest, so many rough trips, it was just so gratifying to see him be able to show everybody how talented he is," said winning owner Jeffrey Bloom. "He's had so many near misses in situations where things didn't go right and he answered the call today in a big spot."

The 1m2f Belmont Derby is the opening leg of the newly created $3m Turf Trinity series and is followed by the inaugural Saratoga Derby on August 4 and the first edition of the Jockey Club Derby back at Belmont Park a month later.

Mirroring the Turf Trinity is the $2.25m Turf Tiara for fillies, which includes the Belmont Oaks, Saratoga Oaks and Jockey Club Oaks.

Just Wonderful: return to form delighted Wayne LordanCredit: Alain Barr

O'Brien won the 1m2f Belmont Oaks 12 months ago with Athena, but had to settle for second as Just Wonderful, who spent the winter as a leading fancy for the 1,000 Guineas, produced arguably her best effort of 2019, but ultimately got going a little late for Lordan as Concrete Rose ran out a decisive winner.

Coral Beach, another O'Brien raider, was seventh, ahead of Newspaperofrecord, who looked a potential superstar last year, but was last nine of the nine runners when suffering her third defeat as a three-year-old.

Lordan was chuffed with the effort of Just Wonderful, last year's Rockfel winner who was sixth to stablemate Hermosa in the 1,000 Guineas.

"She likes to drop in at the races at home, so we decided to do the exact same thing here," he said. "I thought she came home really well. It's her first time going that trip as well, and for the future she'll get that trip. Hopefully, she can come back out here and compete again. I'm delighted with the run."

On the undercard, Preservationist ran out a comfortable winner of the Suburban, which can be a pointer to the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Invasor and Skip Away won both races in 2006 and 1997, while Mucho Macho Man was a Suburban scorer in 2012 before he won the following year's Classic.

Preservationist's trainer Jimmy Jerkens, winning the 1m2f Grade 2 for the third time, said: "He's got a lot of talent but he's got stamina too. He has a lot of quality all through his female family. It's nice to see it all come together to pick up a graded stakes win here today."

Code Of Honor, who finished third in the Kentucky Derby, but was placed second after Maximum Security's interference, produced a convincing performance in the Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes, while Promises Fulfilled, who had performed respectively in top-level company on recent appearances, made the most of a drop in class to land the Grade 2 John A Nerud Stakes.

Did you know you can bet via the Racing Post mobile app/website? Simply sign in with your favourite bookmaker via the Accounts button and then bet direct from our racecards