THE dust has barely settled on Aidan O’Brien’s landmark achievement of 250 Group 1 victories but already the Ballydoyle trainer is readying his formidable team for a frenetic period of classic activity.
Over the next month there will be eight classics down for decision in England, Ireland and France but unquestionably the focal point of all this will be the Epsom Derby.
A victory in this year’s edition would see O’Brien join the late Vincent O’Brien as the joint most successful Irish trainer in Derby history but a week of inconclusive trials has left this year’s edition of the iconic classic looking more open than ever.
Indications this week were that O’Brien could again field a numerically strong challenge for Epsom with pride of place going to the unbeaten US Army Ranger.
His Chester Vase success wasn’t achieved in the manner that many expected but it was quite clear on Monday morning that his trainer retains every faith in the son of Galileo.
“There is no doubt that I was a lot happier coming out of Chester than I was at the Curragh,” says O’Brien. “We knew the Vase wasn’t going to be easy and we put in a legitimate horse (Port Douglas) against him.
“You have to remember that he had to learn in one race what you’d ideally like to teach him in three runs and he’s the horse open to the most improvement.”
Meanwhile a shot at redemption beckons for Air Force Blue in next Saturday’s Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas while the following afternoon either Minding or Ballydoyle will set a daunting standard in the Irish 1000 Guineas.
In all it promises to be a thoroughly intriguing and revelatory few weeks for the O’Brien team. Indeed the inexorable march towards 300 Group 1 triumphs could well commence at Deauville tomorrow afternoon where the exciting The Gurkha and Alice Springs bid for French Guineas glory.
BONDI BEACH
4yo b c (121220-1)
Galileo - One Moment In Time
L.J. Williams, Mrs J. Magnier, M. Tabor, D. Smith
He won well at Limerick last month and he is likely to head to Navan on Sunday for the Vintage Crop Stakes. We’ll see how he gets on there but in terms of later in the season we would be looking on him as a Melbourne Cup horse.
FOUND
4yo b f (131-22212921-31)
Galileo - Red Evie
M. Tabor, D. Smith and Mrs J. Magnier
She was a bit keen on the very soft ground first time out this season but she progressed well from that next time. After next weekend it could then be either the Coronation Cup or the Prince Of Wales’s and then she will have a break with a view to getting her ready for the Arc de Triomphe. More than likely she will come for one run before the Arc.
HIGHLAND REEL
4yo b c (211-62511531-48)
Galileo - Hveger
D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier, M. Tabor
He’s back from Hong Kong where things just didn’t work out for him. A mile and a quarter is a very good trip for him but the Coronation Cup is a possibility for him. He will be off on his travels again through the second half of the season.
KINGFISHER
5yo b h (4135-510266-412300-)
Galileo - Mystical Lady
D. Smith, Mrs. J. Magnier, M. Tabor, L.J. Williams
He’s had a setback and he won’t be running in the Ascot Gold Cup this year. We’ll be trying to get him back for the second half of the season.
ORDER OF ST GEORGE
4yo b c (42152-2111-)
Galileo - Another Storm
M. Tabor, D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier, L.J. Williams
He’s on the way back and the plan is for him to go to Navan at the weekend and have a racecourse gallop. If that went well we’d look at the Savel Beg Stakes and then hopefully it will be on to Ascot for the Gold Cup. He fell a little behind over the winter but he’s in good shape now. In terms of the Gold Cup he got a mile six very well on deep ground at the Curragh last year but you never know about the Gold Cup trip until they try it.
VANCOUVER
4yo b c (1114-)
Medaglia D’Oro - Skates
Mrs J. Magnier
We’re very excited by him but we don’t have too much time with him as he’s going back to Australia after the July Cup. The plan is for him to run in the Greenlands Stakes next weekend and that will be a fact finding mission.
He’s not here that long and everybody needs to be prepared for him to get beaten at the Curragh – he may just take a run to adjust to racing up here but he needs to run before he goes to Royal Ascot. He has a lot of entries at Ascot but he’s a quick, powerful horse and the Diamond Jubilee Stakes would look the race for him.
THREE-YEAR-OLDS
AIR FORCE BLUE
3yo b c (12111-0)
War Front - Chatham
Mrs. J. Magnier, M Tabor, D Smith
There’s every chance that I over trained him for Newmarket so we’ve changed our approach with him. He’s done one half speed since the Guineas which went well and I’m hopeful that if we get him to the Curragh that you will see a different horse to the one that ran the last day.
There was nothing wrong at Newmarket and he came back healthy but his second last piece of work before the Guineas shocked me and had me wondering would he stay the mile. I don’t think he’ll wear a tongue tie at the Curragh and I think everything I did at Newmarket was wrong. Sometimes you make calls and sometimes they’re right but they can be bad too.
Hopefully we’ll get him to the Curragh next weekend and we’ll see if he does stay a mile or not and if he shows that he doesn’t we will come back in trip for the Commonwealth Cup at Ascot.
AIR VICE MARSHAL
3yo b c (312-4)
War Front - Gold Vault
M. Tabor, D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier, Joseph Allen LLC
He ran very well at Newmarket on his final start last year but that was in July and he was off from then until he ran in the English 2000 Guineas where he ran a very nice race to finish fourth. He’ll improve from that and the plan is for him to run in the Irish 2000 Guineas at the weekend.
ALICE SPRINGS
3yo ch f (1253412-33)
Galileo - Aleagueoftheirown
Mrs J. Magnier, M. Tabor, D. Smith
She is going to run in the French 1000 Guineas on Sunday and she might then be one that could then come back to Ascot for the Coronation Stakes.
BALLYDOYLE
3yo b f (421121-2)
Galileo - Butterfly Cove
M. Tabor, D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier
You’d like to split up herself and Minding, they’ve met quite a few times already. She’s a mile to a mile and a quarter filly and if Minding didn’t run in the Irish 1000 Guineas she could go there. It’s possible that we could then look at something like the French Oaks (Prix de Diane) with her.
It’s a race that we haven’t had a runner in for a while.
BHUTAN
3yo Gr c (-1)
Galileo - Ecology
Mrs J. Magnier, M. Tabor, D. Smith
Unfortunately he met with a setback after winning a Leopardstown maiden last month and we’re going to have to wait until the second half of the season with him. It’s a pity as the horse he beat in his maiden, Housesofparliament, ran very well to finish a close third in the Dee Stakes at Chester last week
COOLMORE
3yo ch f (3214-5)
Galileo - You’resothrilling
Mrs. J. Magnier, M. Tabor, D Smith
She was fifth in the Nell Gywn at Newmarket on her first run of the season and the plan is that she will now go for the Irish 1000 Guineas.
HIT IT A BOMB
3yo b c (111-)
War Front - Liscanna
Mrs E.M. Stockwell
He had a setback but he’s back going again. At the moment I’m pushing him a little with a view to hopefully having him ready to run in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.
JOHANNES VERMEER
3yo b c (311421-)
Galileo - Inca Princess
M. Tabor, D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier, T. Ah Khing
He’s not going to make any of the classics. It will be the second half of the season before we can get him back on the track.
MINDING
3yo b f (21211-1)
Galileo - Lillie Langtry
D. Smith, Mrs. J Magnier, M. Tabor
You couldn’t say she’d stay a mile and a half for sure. No one here has mentioned the Derby to me, that was an outside suggestion, and I think that the lads would prefer to go gently and let her take on fillies for the moment.
It might not be the right thing to do by her to push her into a Derby. Nothing is written in stone but at the moment I would think our options are the Irish 1000 Guineas next weekend and then go on to Epsom.
Nothing’s definite but we have an eye on the Oaks.
PORT DOUGLAS
3yo b c (12414-2)
Galileo - Waltzerkoenigin
M. Tabor, D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier
He won a tough Beresford Stakes last season and I knew he’d improve a lot for stepping up beyond a mile. He handled Chester very well and scooted round the bends and he ran a very good race there carrying a Group 2 penalty against US Army Ranger. He’s a legitimate Derby contender.
PRETTY PERFECT
3yo b f (51-1)
Galileo - Milanova
M. Tabor, D. Smith, Mrs J Magnier
When she first ran we held her up and she looked ordinary but then Ana made the running on her to win at Leopardstown at the backend of last season and it worked much better. She did the same at Navan last month and she’s a filly that works well from the front too.
SEVENTH HEAVEN
3yo b f (74-11)
Galileo - La Traviata
D. Smith, Mrs. J Magnier, M. Tabor
Ryan felt that despite winning she struggled a bit on the track and the ground at Lingfield on Saturday so we may have to look at something other than Epsom.
SHOGUN
3yo b c (71360-3)
Fastnet Rock - Perihelion
D. Smith, Mrs J Magnier, M. Tabor, Mrs A.M. O’Brien
We stepped his sister, Qualify, straight up from a mile to win the Oaks but we felt that wouldn’t be fair to him so he went a mile and a quarter in the Derrinstown and we rode him patiently. He wasn’t stopping at the finish and we could ride him handier at that trip in the future. He’s a work in progress.
SOMEHOW
3yo b f (3-11)
Fastnet Rock - Alexandrova
M. Tabor, D. Smith, Mrs. J. Magnier
When she won at Chester last week Ryan felt that she struggled around the track and if you’re going to struggle around Chester it’s likely to be the same at Epsom so we’ll look elsewhere. The Ribblesdale at Royal Ascot might be a race for her.
THE GURKHA
3yo b c (-31)
Galileo - Chintz
D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier, M. Tabor
He’ll run in the French 2000 Guineas this weekend. He has plenty of pace and I’m not sure how far he will stay. We’ll see what happens on Sunday but if he’s going to step up in trip it could be in the Prix du Jockey Club. He had two colic surgeries last year and was lucky to survive. Although he didn’t get to run last year we thought a lot of him.
US ARMY RANGER
3yo b c (-11)
Galileo - Moonstone
Mrs J.Magnier, M. Tabor, D Smith
He didn’t get to run at two so we had to get him out as early we could and that was the race at the Curragh. We knew then that we’d only get one more run into him before Epsom and we wanted to run him in the trial that would teach him the most so Chester was the place to go.
People have knocked the horse after Chester but they shouldn’t. They didn’t go fast enough for him and Ryan knew that his job was to teach the horse as much as possible and it was a big effort to do what he did there. He was very green still and was whinnying after pulling up. We want our horses going to trials and learning and go forward from there. We’re looking at them to improve off their trials and also to learn about them tactically.
WASHINGTON DC
3yo b c (21212-17)
Zoffany - How’s She Cuttin
Mrs. J. Magnier, M. Tabor, D. Smith
When he ran at Ascot the last day Ryan wanted to track the winner but there was a horse on his inner and he just found himself trapped in no man’s land so I think it’s a run you can draw a line through. Hopefully he’ll be a horse for the Commonwealth Cup but before then he could go to Navan on Sunday and there is also a race at Naas a few weeks later.
TWO-YEAR-OLDS
CARAVAGGIO
2yo gr c (1)
Scat Daddy - Mekko Hokte
Mrs. J. Magnier, M. Tabor, D. Smith
He’s a very fast two-year-old. If he got six furlongs you’d be delighted but you couldn’t be sure. Ideally you’d like to get two runs into them ahead of Ascot. Historically it’s not easy for two-year-olds to go there off one run and win.
ROLY POLY
2yo b f (1)
War Front - Misty For Me
M. Tabor, D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier
She’s a very well bred filly and won nicely first time out at Naas. We’d be thinking of the Marble Hill for her next. If she is going to Ascot for the Queen Mary you’d ideally like to go five furlongs again as opposed to stepping up to six for her second run and then coming back to five at Ascot.