by Mike Curry

With classic winner New Approach scratched from the $2,368,500 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby (Ire-G1), Frozen Fire seized the opportunity with a determined rally to win the Curragh classic by two lengths on Sunday.

Overlooked at 16-to-1 as part of trainer Aidan O’Brien’s five-horse contingent, Frozen Fire was reserved at the back of the 11-horse field by jockey Seamus Heffernan and unleashed an explosive closing kick in the straight. The German-bred Montjeu (Ire) colt accelerated into contention from the far outside, avoiding trouble caused when stablemate Alessandro Volta bore out from the rail to the center of the course through the final furlong, and edged clear in the closing strides. Frozen Fire ran the Irish Derby’s 1 1/2 miles in 2:31.96 on ground rated as good to yielding.

Frozen Fire gave O’Brien his sixth victory in the Irish Derby, equaling the record of his predecessor at Ballydoyle, the legendary Vincent O’Brien. Heffernan and Aidan O’Brien combined to win the 2007 Irish Derby with Soldier of Fortune.

"This is down to a lot of people—it's been a privilege to have been involved in it," O'Brien told England’s Press Association. “Seamus has worked very hard and is a great judge of a horse. Nobody deserves it more than Seamus, and I couldn't be happier for him."

Owned by Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Susan Magnier, Frozen Fire opened the season with a runner-up finish in the Totesport.com Dante Stakes (Eng-G2) on May 15 at York and entered the Irish Derby off an 11th-place finish in the Vodafone Epsom Derby (Eng-G1), won by New Approach.

“I think Alessandro Volta got stage-fright when he turned into the straight, and he wouldn't have seen a crowd like that in front of him before,” O'Brien said of his runner’s antics in the stretch.

Casual Conquest, third to New Approach in the Epsom Derby, finished willingly to take second, with Alessandro Volta a head back in third. Epsom Derby runner-up Tartan Bearer, the even-money favorite, finished a half-length behind Alessandro Volta but was elevated to third when stewards disqualified Alessandro Volta for interference and placed him last.

Both Curtain Call, who finished fifth, and Tartan Bearer were compromised by Alessandro Volta’s wild run through the stretch after he seized a clear lead with about two furlongs remaining.

New Approach was scratched with an injury to his left hind leg, and trainer Jim Bolger said he also will miss the Coral-Eclipse Stakes (Eng-G1) on July 5 at York.

Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor