The 79th running of the Irish Derby was held on Wednesday 21st June 1944 over 1 mile 4 furlongs of The Curragh. Subscriptions were 26 sovereigns with a pot of 1500 sovereigns, 300 sovereigns to the second and 100 sovereigns to the third. The winner was owned and bred in Ireland by Major Dermot McCalmont, trained by Robert Fetherstonehaugh and ridden by John Moylan. The winner won by a head in 2 minutes 39 seconds, with 1 1/2 lengths between second and third. |
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IRISH DERBY 1944
SLIDE ON (Bay colt by Bobsleigh out of Ojala) SR 1928
The winning owner won 1099.5 sovereigns, (The equivalent of £46,300 in today's terms based on Bank of England inflation calculator). |
 
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| Pos. |
Horse |
Weight |
Jockey |
Owner |
Trainer |
| 1 |
SLIDE ON |
8.12 |
John Moylan |
Major Dermot McCalmont |
Robert Fetherstonehaugh |
| 2 |
WATER STREET |
8.12 |
George Wells |
Mr M S Carroll |
Charles A Rogers |
| 3 |
BRAVE BOY |
8.12 |
Joe Canty |
Sir Harold Gray |
James Canty |
| 4 |
HYPERINA |
8.12 |
John Power |
Mr James McVey jnr |
John Oxx |
| 5 |
GREEK STAR |
9.2 |
Morny Wing |
Mr Joseph McGrath |
Michael Collins |
| 6 |
PACIFER |
8.12 |
James Eddery |
Mr Frederick Myerscough |
Fred Myerscough |
| 7 |
SIR GABRIEL |
8.12 |
Herbert Holmes |
Mr Patrick Ryan |
William J Byrne |
| |
Betting |
OWNER PROFILE
Dermot McCalmont was born in 1887 into a family who enjoyed their racing. His father, Colonel Harry McCalmont, had won the English Triple Crown with Isinglass (SR 2047) in 1893 and Dermot became an accomplished amateur jockey, winning the Grand Military Gold Cup at Sandown Park which was restricted to Military Amateur riders. After his military career, where he reached the post of Major, he devoted more time to horse racing, developing the Ballylinch Stud in Kilkenny in 1914 built around the unbeaten stallion The Tetrarch, but he was also a successful, Classic winning owner. He won the English 2000 Guineas in 1920 with Tetratema (SR 2077) and for a second time in 1929 with Mr Jinks (SR 1951), but was equally successful in Ireland. He won the 1944 Irish Derby with Slide On (SR 1928) and again the next year with Piccadilly (SR 1853). He died in 1968 aged 81. |
| 4/7 fav |
Slide On |
| 7/2 |
Water Street |
| 7/1 |
Brave Boy |
| 8/1 |
Greek Star |
| 20/1 |
Hyperina |
| 25/1 |
Pacifer |
| 50/1 |
Sir Gabriel |
| |
Over round 119% |
| FORMLINE:- Off level weights with the second and third, but receiving 4 lbs from Greek Star, the strongly fancied Slide On scrambled home by a head in 2 minutes 39 seconds. None of the runners contested any of the 5 English Classics. |
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