Aidan O’Brien said: “I’m only a small part of a very big team. For everybody - everybody puts in so much, I cannot tell you. I can’t tell you the privilege it is for me to be dealing with everybody. Australia [Lambourn’s sire] is a great Derby winner, very genuine, and that’s what this horse is - uncomplicated, genuine and committed. He always has been. His runs this year have been very good this year - he was second to Delacroix, and then was very impressive in Chester. Chester again - you have to be on your game and you have to stay, and that’s the way he was. Ryan loved him in Chester and he obviously can’t ride them all. He’s probably an Irish Derby horse, and he will get further as well.
“Ryan (Moore) said he got taken out quite early [on Delacroix] and then he was back in the field and in trouble - he said his chance was gone quite early. That’s the way it happens - sometimes it falls and sometimes it doesn’t. Colin said he felt at the top of the hill he was never going forward and it was maybe the ground. Wayne was forward and he was never going to be stopping. Every inch he had he was going to keep and not give it back. It was going to be very hard to beat him if you had any ground to make up, and Wayne obviously got the fractions 100% perfect.
“It’s been an incredible weekend - what can I say? It’s the people that make it.
“We knew he wasn’t going to stop and that every inch he got he wasn’t going to give back. If you were on the back foot at any stage… We saw that, he just keeps going. And Wayne wasn’t going to surrender.
“Wayne is an unbelievable fella - so uncomplicated and so committed, so natural. Very talented. This horse has been working very well since Chester. Wayne rides him in his work but Dean [Gallagher] has been riding him as well and they were very happy with him. Ryan wasn’t going to ride him, anyway - he was going to ride one of the other two. But he loved him in Chester. He can’t ride them all, though.”
The trainer went on to say: “I knew there were two horses Wayne wanted to ride this weekend, and that was the filly [Whirl] and the colt [Lambourn] - he won’t tell you that but those were the two he wanted to ride, and I knew that.
“Everyone knew what Wayne was going to do in the race; he’d said that and he wasn’t hiding it, he was very happy to make the running if no one wanted to make it. If there was someone going, he was very happy to be second or third or fourth, I would imagine. Wayne was aggressive out of the gates, he got into a great position and was able to travel lovely to the top of the hill, and I knew, watching Wayne, that every inch he got he wasn’t going to give back, so it was going to be very difficult for anyone. He was very confident - he rides this horse in all his work and he said to me last Monday, ‘He’s absolutely there’. Coming out of the parade ring today, he said, ‘This fellow’s on fire today’ - that was before the race. If you ask him, he’ll say this was a different horse today.
“Everyone latched on to the other two horses, but Lambourn was third or fourth or fifth favourite, wasn’t he? The word in our place was, whatever Ryan wanted to ride, I knew what Wayne wanted to ride. When I’d be going round the yards in the evening, the lads would be telling me what was going on, so I knew what Wayne wanted to ride, so it made it easier for me! I’m delighted for him. All the way Wayne has been a massive part of the team. He rides so many of the big horses in their work; he’s there every day and it’s a privilege for us to have a man like him. He’s so straightforward and an unbelievable team player. He gets on with everybody, never offends everybody. He’s ruthless when he has to be, though - strong and determined.
“Lambourn was always going to be an Irish Derby horse, a Leger horse, and Wayne said he definitely would stay further. He saves plenty for himself and he gives himself a chance to get any trip.”
Wayne Lordan said: "I’m 43, from Cork, my family were always involved in point-to-points and stuff, I was born into it and have enjoyed every bit of it.
“When you’re getting into racing, this is the race you always want to ride in. I’m lucky that I work for Aidan and get to ride good horses and get opportunities. I’ve had previous rides in the Derby, but I’m just glad it worked out today. He’s a lovely genuine horse. I was just anxious to get him into this stride, because he stays well. I got him into a good rhythm in front and he was enjoying it, with his ears pricked. I was able to go forward good and early because we always thought he was a horse that stays well.
“I was only happy when I passed the line - you don’t know, there are always horses flying home - and on the filly yesterday I thought I was going well and then Ryan passed me in the last 50 yards. I knew anything that got past me was going to have to stay really well and I knew my horse was genuine and tries hard.
“I do feel this horse was a bit overlooked because he’s not a flashy horse, he goes along behind the bridle, he just does his own thing. I suppose the other horses are good travellers, they are good to quicken. Mine was just genuine and going along with it all. But if you looked for it it was always in there.”
On working for Aidan, the jockey added: “Aidan is very straightforward, the horses are well prepared and he gives good instructions and as long as you carry them out, if you win, great, and if you don’t, you’ve tried your best."
The jockey had earlier told ITV Racing: “He is a very straightforward horse and he does race lazily, when he jumps he is just a little bit slow into his stride. So when I was drawn in the middle, I was pleased with that as I thought I wouldn’t get crowded too quick, and I got a chance to get him up and into his stride.
“He’s a big-striding horse, but he saves everything in reserve. I thought he was going a good gallop and I passed the six [pole] and his two ears pricked and I knew I had to go again here as something with a bit of pace behind me could quicken by him. He just waits the whole time.
“I felt we were going even, I knew we wouldn’t be going too quick on this horse, even though you’re lying into his neck and asking him to go forward, as he just preserves away the whole time. So I was just keeping the pressure on to keep the momentum flowing.
“As you see him there (travelling mid-race), that’s how he does his work at home. He’s not a flashy horse. The other horses jump off, they show pace, and they quicken. This fella just pulls his sleeves up and potters along, but he’s always there at the end.
“I just wanted to see the three pole to get going on him, because I knew that whatever was going to get by me would have to deserve to get by me and stay.
“There’s a lot of good horses in the race, but when you go down through it, there was always the question mark of the trip – and I knew that I could get a-mile-and-a-half-plus. So I was happy to make sure that whatever was going to be coming would have to stay well. When I got a flick into him passing the two [pole], he went forward and I knew if I gave him another one, he would go forward again. The last furlong I knew he was still galloping strong.
On what it feels like to have won The Derby, he said: “When you’re growing up… I’ve been watching you (Johnny Murtagh), Pat Smullen, Mick Kinane, and it’s the race you always want to... Then when you get a ride in it, you’re absolutely delighted. I work for Aidan O’Brien, Ballydoyle, Coolmore, and when they give you the opportunity to ride a horse like this, in a race like this, and for him to do it… it’s a special race to win.”
Asked about the injury he sustained in 2023 and whether he thought that might be it for his race-riding career, he said: “I didn’t know. I had a lot of tests to pass. It took me eight months to get back. That’s how long the recovery took for me. I had a lot of tests to do [the following] January and at the end of January, they kind of gave me the go-ahead. It was very strange, he said to me, ‘It’s a very odd one, I’m happy to tell you that you can take another fall’. And that was the answer I was looking for, because if I wasn’t going to take another fall, that was probably it. So I rode in February. It’s a tough game, a lot of lads go through it, and I was the lucky one to get back.”
