Sweet 16 for Aidan O'Brien as Los Angeles hangs tough, but do we stick or twist with the Irish Derby?

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The Irish Derby has been under pressure, big pressure, and so, too, was Los Angeles as Ambiente Friendly loomed large on his outside as the pair entered unknown territory.

Unknown in that we didn't know if Ambiente Friendly truly stayed a mile and a half; we didn't know if Los Angeles was good enough to hold on; and we didn't know if the race itself was in need of serious surgery and should be shortened to a mile and a quarter. 

We got two definitive answers: Ambiente Friendly doesn't stay; Los Angeles does, and was good enough to give Aidan O'Brien a sweet 16th success in the much-maligned Curragh Classic. Whether the Irish Derby should stay in its current form, over its current trip, remains up for debate, but the one thing you cannot debate is that this year's race was anything but compelling viewing for the crowd of 11,418, up from 10,897 in 2023.