Aidan O'Brien, who has trained four Derby winners since 2001, said today (Monday) that he still believes Australia is "another step up" from any colt he has sent to Epsom in the past and despite the defeat in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket earlier this month.

O’Brien also said that a cough had affected the preparation of many horses in his yard, including Australia, but that punters have no reason for any concerns about his string ahead of the Classic meeting at Epsom.

Speaking at a stable open-morning here, O’Brien admitted that his comments about Australia, who has been beaten twice in four starts to date, will “probably come back and get me”. His confidence in Australia seems sure to feed into the ante-post market for the Derby, however, in which his colt is already top-priced at just 6/4.

O’Brien’s previous winners at Epsom include Galileo, the sire of Australia, and Camelot, who succeeded where Australia failed by winning the 2,000 Guineas and was described in similarly glowing terms by his trainer two years ago.

"He could be a Derby horse like we've never had before," O'Brien said. "That's why he turned up in the Guineas. Would we have run any of those Derby horses in the Guineas that he ran in on fast ground? With a pedigree by Galileo and with his action, and out of the great mare [the Oaks winner Ouija Board] that he is. I don't think so.

'Another step up'
"The reality is we've never had a horse like this, including everything. Camelot was, I thought, the best horse we've had for the Derby, that's the way he came along. This horse is another step up. Whether that's going to happen I don't know, but I'd imagine that time will say that the Guineas was a lot better Guineas than Camelot's Guineas.

“I’m not trying to blow anything up, I’m just trying to say it as it is. A lot of things have to go right between now and then but at this stage, for a horse by Galileo to be doing what he’s doing, we wouldn’t have had that before.”

O’Brien’s faith in Australia dates back to some of the colt’s earliest trips on to the Ballydoyle gallops.

“He showed it very early,” O’Brien said. “In March and April he was half-speeding with horses he shouldn’t have been able to half-speed with at that time of the year.

"One morning he worked four furlongs in four 11-second furlongs, one after the other. I'm not always the first to see the data off the horses, the boys [owners John Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor] get that before me, so obviously my phone started ringing. The boys saw the time and that's what made everyone's ears prick up very quickly."

First horse
Australia was the first horse at Ballydoyle to cough "about eight weeks before the Guineas", O'Brien said, and the virus then "went through the whole place".

He added: “We were lucky because Australia got over it within a week and then obviously we had to train him for the Guineas, so there’s a chance that there’s more to come from the horse. It was important to get them out and run them in trials.

“We trained them gently though because obviously the Classics are vital for us, and you can’t go to the Olympics and try to win a gold medal if you’re not turning up in the preps. We probably weren’t leaning on them as hard as we would have done [in a normal year].”

Australia is likely to lead a four-strong challenge for O'Brien. He will be joined at Epsom by Orchestra and Kingfisher, the winners of the Chester Vase and Dee Stakes at Chester last week, and Geoffrey Chaucer, who found trouble in running when third in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial at Leopardstown on Sunday. Riding arrangements are not finalised but there is "a big chance" Ryan Moore, who took last year's Derby on O'Brien's Ruler Of The World, will ride Orchestra."

'Very happy'
"We're very happy with Orchestra," O'Brien said. "He was just ready to start at Chester, anyone who saw him would see he had a bit of a tummy on him. I wasn't sure going there that he would get a mile-and-a-half because even though his pedigree is very stout, he works with plenty of pace. I remember saying to Ryan to take his time on him and play it by ear, and that's what he did.

“Ryan said in an ideal world he probably didn’t want the gap when it came, but he had to take it at Chester and quickened and then got a little tired. We got a very straightforward run out of Kingfisher. At least [the Derrinstown] got a race into Geoffrey Chaucer, and he got plenty of hustle and bustle.”

O'Brien's most likely candidates for the Oaks at this stage are Bracelet and Tapestry, who both finished well down the field in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket, and he may send no runners at all to this week's Dante meeting at York due to the likelihood of soft ground on the Knavesmire.
Guardian Service