Aidan and Joseph O’Brien go into Sunday’s French Oaks at Chantilly with objectives at either end of the Classic spectrum.
The latter is targeting a first such success in France as Caroline Street lines up in a vintage-looking renewal of the €1 million Prix de Diane, due off at 3.05 Irish-time and live on Sky.
O’Brien Jnr has already tasted Classic glory in both Ireland and England courtesy of Latrobe in the 2018 Irish Derby and Galileo Chrome’s 2020 St Leger success.
However, should his father’s Never Ending Story emerge on top in Sunday’s big race it will secure him a once scarcely imaginable ‘century’ of Classic victories.
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With 48 career wins at the Curragh, as well as 42 in England and nine in France, Aidan O’Brien is on the cusp of just the latest notable landmark in his 30-year training career.
Purists might quibble at the fact that half a dozen Irish Legers and Yeats’s 2008 Prix Royal Oak came in races open to older horses and, therefore, strictly do not fit the Classic criteria of three-year-olds only.
O’Brien fans can argue back that a pair of those Irish Legers were won by three-year-olds and, by any measure, all of it represents an astonishing level of consistent dominance in some of Europe’s most coveted prizes.
It’s a couple of years since Joan Of Arc filled O’Brien’s Classic CV in France by landing the Diane, although both Never Ending Story and Caroline Street are among the outsiders this weekend.
Among the other 13 runners are top local talents such as the Pouliches heroine Blue Rose Cen and Jannah Rose, who landed last month’s Prix Saint-Alary.
In the home team, too, is Left Sea, trying to fill in veteran jockey Oliver Peslier’s own French Classic CV, while the best of the lot by reputation could be Pensée du Jour.
Andre Fabre’s star will be ridden by Bauyrzhan Murzabayev, the 30-year-old Kazakhstani who was formerly champion jockey in Germany before switching to France and teaming up with Fabre.
Never Ending Story has a lot of ground to make up on Blue Rose Cen on French Guineas form but she and Caroline Street, winner of the Blue Wind at Naas last month, do have positive inside stalls in two and three respectively.
The draw hasn’t been as kind to the major English hope, with Running Lion in 10. Oisín Murphy’s mount was withdrawn from the start of the Epsom Oaks after getting upset in the stalls.
Closer to home, Joseph O’Brien’s team have seven hopefuls lining up at Gowran’s Sunday fixture, including a pair of contenders for the concluding conditions race.
The French import Good Too has a first start in Ireland having run twice as a juvenile and is a rare spin this season for Group One winning rider Shane Crosse.
Carrying 9.12 allows Crosse to take the ride, with the former champion apprentice having not been seen in action since April.
However, O’Brien’s other hopeful, Trustyourinstinct, looks particularly interesting. The sole three-year-old won his only start to date in very easy style and could step up against highly rated opposition.
In advance of next week’s Royal Ascot action, a pair of Ballydoyle juveniles line up in Gowran’s opening maiden.
Wayne Lordan’s presence on the Kingman colt Air Commander, along with an inside draw that’s usually helpful around the Kilkenny track, suggest potential encouragement for his chance.
O’Brien is hot favourite to be crowned leading trainer for a 12th time at next week’s extravaganza, where Emily Dickinson is the apparent number one hope among a Ballydoyle trio left in the Gold Cup at Friday’s latest acceptance stage.
