O’Brien readies Ballydoyle sextet for Epsom glory
TO WIN just one Epsom Classic is the pinnacle for most trainers.
For Aidan O’Brien, however, success in the Derby and Oaks has become part and parcel of his dominance of the sport.
The master of Ballydoyle has won both races a staggering 10 times each, and this year brings another powerful squad across the Irish Sea.
He saddles Delacroix, The Lion In Winter and Lambourn in Saturday’s Derby (3.30pm), facing off against Godolphin’s 2,000 Guineas victor Ruling Court.
The Lion In Winter had supposedly been Ballydoyle’s number one Derby horse this year, but Ryan Moore’s booking on Delacroix suggests things must have changed.
Delacroix is two-from-two this season, impressed in Leopardstown’s Derby Trial in May, and O’Brien was enthusiastic about his chances, speaking at The Jockey Club’s press conference:
“Everything has gone well with Delacroix and we always viewed him last year as a potential Derby horse. He’s a big, powerful horse and we feel he’s gone the right way every week.”
Things have not gone so smoothly for The Lion In Winter this term.
Installed as the short-priced ante-post Derby favourite after his fine Acomb win last year, a troubled preparation this spring saw him miss his comeback in the Guineas, and he was only able to finish sixth in the Dante.
However, O’Brien is confident he’s improved since:
“We think he’s made good progress since York. He was only just ready to start in the Dante, and he was a bit fresh and a bit behind fitness-wise. We always thought there was a strong possibility that he would be a Derby horse. We couldn’t have asked any more of him since York.”
Lambourn, who was second to Delacroix on their penultimate starts, booked his Epsom ticket with victory in the Chester Vase, and O’Brien holds no doubts about him staying the mile-and-a-half trip:
“He ran a lovely race first time and then ran a lovely race at Chester. There’s no doubt that he looks like a horse who’ll stay further and is one we’re looking forward to seeing again.”
In Friday’s Oaks (4.00pm), O’Brien saddles three: Minnie Hauk, Giselle and Whirl – taking on Godolphin’s warm favourite and 1,000 Guineas heroine, Desert Flower.
Minnie Hauk will be Ryan Moore’s mount, and after winning the Cheshire Oaks in taking fashion, will look to be O’Brien’s first filly to double up from Chester at Epsom:
“Minnie Hauk is a lovely, straightforward filly. We think she’s come forward loads from Chester and hoped it would sharpen her up for Epsom. We’ve been very happy with her since.”
Giselle arrives at Epsom having won the William Hill Oaks Trial at Lingfield by nine lengths, and O’Brien believes she ought to improve plenty for that run too:
“Giselle was very underdone fitness-wise at Lingfield, and we were only really getting her season started that day. She’s come forward since and we’ve been able to train her more aggressively.”
After Whirl won York’s Musidora in style, part-owner Michael Tabor publicly debated whether she’d be an Epsom filly, but she takes her chance and O’Brien was encouraging about her:
“She has a lovely mind and got the mile-and-a-quarter very well at York. She’s laidback, she’s fit and she definitely wasn’t stopping the last day.”
Two talented Godolphin horses stand in the way of a first Ballydoyle Oaks-Derby double since 2020, but O’Brien has three in each race and could once again prove all-conquering on the Downs.