Wings of Eagles (foaled 17 March 2014) is a French-bred, Irish-trained
Thoroughbred racehorse
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...
. He is best known for his victory in the
2017 Epsom Derby
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at odds of 40–1, having never previously won a stakes race.
He sustained a career-ending injury when finishing third in the Irish Derby on his only subsequent appearance.
Background
Wings of Eagles is a dark-coated bay colt with a large white
star
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
bred in France by Aliette and Gilles Forien.
He is from the second crop of the Irish-bred stallion
Pour Moi, who won the 2011 Epsom Derby as well as the Group 2
Prix Greffulhe the same year. Pour Moi entered stud at
Coolmore Stud in Ireland in 2012 and shuttled intermittently to
Windsor Park Stud in New Zealand. For the 2017 breeding season, he was moved to Grange Stud as a Coolmore National Hunt stallion. Pour Moi's other notable runners include Australian Group 1 winner Sacred Elixir and Irish Group 3 winner Only Mine.
Wings of Eagles' dam Ysoldina only won one of her 11 races but finished third in the 2005
Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. As of 2017, she has five named foals, four of whom have won. With his Epsom Derby win, Wings of Eagles became his dam's first stakes winner.
As a yearling, Wings of Eagles was sold for 220,000 euros to MV Magnier at the Arqana August Yearling Sale. The colt was sent into training with
Aidan O'Brien at
Ballydoyle. Like many Coolmore horses, the official details of his ownership have changed from race to race: he has sometimes been listed as being the property of Derrick Smith, while on other occasions he has been described as being owned by a partnership of Derrick Smith,
Michael Tabor and
Susan Magnier
John Magnier (born 10 February 1948; also known as "The Boss") is an Irish business magnate. He is Ireland's leading thoroughbred stud owner and has extensive business interests outside the horse-breeding industry.
Magnier has also been a Senat ...
.
Racing career
2016: two-year-old season
Wings of Eagles began his racing career in a
maiden race
In horse racing a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won a race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the se ...
over seven
furlongs at
Galway Races on 29 July in which he was ridden by
Seamie Heffernan and started at odds of
7/1 in an eleven-runner field. He showed some reluctance to enter the
starting stalls
A starting gate also called a starting barrier or starting stalls is a machine used to ensure a fair start to in horse racing and dog racing.
History
Throughout the history of horse racing, there have been proposals as to how better to start ...
and made no impact in the race, finishing seventh behind the
Dermot Weld-trained Lost in Silence. Three weeks later the colt was partnered by Emmet McNamara for a similar event at
Killarney Racecourse
Killarney Racecourse is a horse racing venue in Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland which stages both National Hunt and Flat racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys ( ...
and started the 5/2 second choice in the betting behind the
John Oxx-trained Birds of Prey. After racing in third place Wings of Eagles went to the front a furlong out and won by one and a quarter lengths from the favourite despite showing signs of inexperience (running "green"). Wings of Eagles was then sent to England for the Listed
Zetland Stakes over ten furlongs on 10 October at
Newmarket Racecourse. Ridden by
Ryan Moore he started at odds of 10/1 and finished fourth behind the
filly
A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use:
*In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old.
*In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...
Coronet. On his final appearance of the season the colt was sent to France and stepped up to
Group 1 class for the
Critérium de Saint-Cloud on 30 October. He never looked likely to win and finished ninth of the thirteen runners, seven lengths behind the winner Waldgeist.
2017: three-year-old season
Wings of Eagles began his three-year-old campaign in the Group 3
Chester Vase. In the beginning of the race, he was towards the rear of the field but rallied to finish second as part of a 1-2-3 finish for his trainer Aidan O'Brien. Following the race, O'Brien said he was "delighted" with Wings of Eagles' performance. "We liked him last year and he had a lovely run in France – he was back a bit (ninth in the Critérium de Saint-Cloud) but it was a lovely run...
he was going to be ready for the Derby, he needed to run and he travelled well and settled well."
For his next start in the Epsom Derby, Wings of Eagles was paired with jockey
Padraig Beggy
Padraig Beggy (born 30 March 1986) is an Irish professional jockey, who won the 2017 Epsom Derby on Wings of Eagles and the 2019 Irish Derby on Sovereign. He is retained by leading trainer Aidan O'Brien.
Early career
Beggy grew up in Dunb ...
for the first time.
Before the race, Beggy had never ridden in the Epsom Derby.
Wings of Eagles was one of six starters for O'Brien in the Derby and was generally overlooked by bettors in favour of his stablemates, going off at odds of 40–1.
Beggy said he was not worried about the long odds. "That's my first ride, but when you're riding one for Aidan
'Brienyou don't worry about the price, they always have a chance." In the Derby, Wings of Eagles was caught back at the start and sat in the back of the field for most of the race. Three furlongs before the finish, Wings of Eagles was third last, but began rapidly closing.
Entering the final furlong, it appeared as if his stablemate
Cliffs of Moher was going to be the victor, but Wings of Eagles came "from the clouds" in the final strides to win the Derby by lengths. After the race Beggy said "Turning in, I knew I’d pass the back half of the field – I wasn’t sure about the whole lot, though. Two out I thought I had a chance and a furlong out I thought I’d win. He's actually won a shade cosily. I’ve won plenty of big handicaps but I could get used to this". O'Brien commented "I don’t know what happened there. All I know is that Padraig gave the winner a brilliant ride. He knew all about him. We knew Ryan's horse was a bit of a baby and he just tired in the last 50 yards. We thought Wings Of Eagles would even get a bit further".
On 1 July Wings of Eagles started 2/1 favourite ahead of Cracksman and Waldgeist for the
Irish Derby at the Curragh. Ridden by Ryan Moore he was restrained in the early stages before staying on in the straight and finished third, beaten a neck and a short head by
Capri
Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been ...
and Cracksman. After the race it was discovered that the colt had sustained a serious leg injury described as a "fracture of his left front sesamoid".
He was immediately retired from racing.
Pedigree
References
External links
Career 1-2-3 Colour Chart– ''Wings Of Eagles''
{{Epsom Derby Winners
2014 racehorse births
Epsom Derby winners
Thoroughbred family 14-c
Racehorses trained in Ireland
Racehorses bred in France