ONE of the genuine ‘wow’ moments of the 2024 season arrived when Fairy Godmother overcame all sorts of trouble to land the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot, and Aidan O’Brien revealed this week that he is plotting a tilt at the 1000 Guineas with his long-absent three-year-old.

It was a real shame that the Night Of Thunder filly didn’t manage to make the racecourse again at two following that victory over subsequent Moyglare Stud Stakes second Simmering.

The Coolmore partners’ dual Group 3 winner has yet to race over further than six furlongs but is no bigger than 8/1 for the opening fillies’ classic of the season at Newmarket, behind stablemate Lake Victoria (3/1) and Godolphin’s Fillies’ Mile heroine Desert Flower.

Speaking as part of the launch of the 2024 European Two-Year-Old Classification, O’Brien said: “She’s cantering at the moment and physically has done very well. She’s a quick filly who we’re thinking of starting off in a Guineas to see if she stays a mile or not. She looks very exciting.

“What she did at Ascot, she shouldn’t have been able to do. If you get stopped once in your run there it’s hard, but she might have got checked twice or three times and still won easily. She’s a strong physical, big and powerful with loads of scope. She’s in the ‘could be anything’ category.”

‘Unusual’ Victoria

As for Lake Victoria, the Ballydoyle handler hasn’t ruled out going up in distance with the first European champion juvenile filly to win three Group 1/Grade 1 races in a two-year-old season.

“We won’t be in a rush with her,” said O’Brien. “Obviously what she did was very unusual. You couldn’t really believe that a two-year-old filly could do that, to win three Group 1s over three different distances.

“She’s quick and got the mile well at the Breeders’ Cup. You’d imagine she’s going to be a miler-type and might get a mile and a quarter. But who knows? She’s by Frankel and out of Quiet Reflection, who was very quick.”

Unbeaten Acomb Stakes scorer The Lion In Winter and Dewhurst Stakes second Expanded shared top honours for the Ballydoyle two-year-old colts last season with a rating of 118 each.

O’Brien said: “We won’t rush The Lion In Winter either. He could go to the Guineas but obviously he looks a Derby-type horse. If he doesn’t go to the Guineas he’ll start in a [Derby] trial. He’s not over-big, a nice-sized type of horse. He looked mature as a two-year-old. Obviously he has a great mind and what he did was very unusual.

“We always thought Expanded was very good. What we did to him wasn’t very fair, to bring him back a week after winning a maiden to go straight into a Dewhurst. He’s an unusual horse in that he has speed and we always thought he’d get a mile-plus. We always thought he’d get a Derby trip; he’s out of a Galileo mare and has a very easy and relaxed way of going. He’s a very exciting horse.”

The Lion In Winter is 6/1 favourite for both the 2000 Guineas and Derby, while Expanded is double those odds for curtain-raising classic at Newmarket.