Aidan O'Brien is set to try and break the world record haul of 22 Group One victories in a season at St Cloud on Saturday and his big race appetite could also see both Milan and Bach travelling to Hong Kong in December.
Fresh from Johannesburg's scintillating Breeders' Cup success, which equalled Bob Baffert's previous best Group One total, the Ballydoyle trainer is now targeting the one-mile Criterium International this weekend.
The San Siro scorer Sholokhov and the Grand Lodge winner Mutinyonthebounty were reported by O'Brien yesterday to be his most likely runners. He also hasn't ruled out being represented in Europe's last Group One of the year, the Grand Criterium de St Cloud on November 13th.
"If the horses are well, we will keep going with them but at this time of year they can go very quickly," said O'Brien.
But after top-flight racing disappears from Europe for the year, the record breaking trainer hasn't ruled out travelling east with both Milan and Bach.
The Group One Hong Kong Cup over 10 furlongs is a target for Bach while the mile and a half Vase on the same international card on December 16th is a possible aim for Milan.
"Milan ran a great race at the weekend. Mick (Kinane) said he lost a couple of lengths on the bend when Mutamam came back. The Hong Kong race or the Japan Cup are possibles for him," said O'Brien.
The trainer reported Johannesburg to have recovered well from Saturday night's epic Belmont Park victory and gave his strongest hint yet that the colt could be targeted at next May's Kentucky Derby.
"It must be a strong possibility. We have a lot of nice two-year-olds for the Guineas races and it would be a big option for Johannesburg now that he has performed on dirt," O'Brien said.
The weekend trans-Atlantic expedition hasn't disrupted the Ballydoyle domination at home as O'Brien saddled four winners at Leopardstown yesterday, including the first two in the Group Three Killavullan Stakes.
However, it was the stable outsider Stonemason who surprised his odds-on stable companion Temple Of Artemis by making all under Seamus Heffernan to score by five lengths.
"We always thought he was a nice horse but weren't sure how he'd run since he disappointed in his last race. But he has been working well," said O'Brien.
Colm O'Donoghue had been scheduled to ride Stonemason but he injured a hand in a stalls accident at Galway on Sunday and elected to sit the day out.
The stable's other apprentice Paul Scallan had better luck with the 14 to 1 Ice Dancer whose break from pace-making duties for Galileo resulted in a head defeat of Taraza in the Trigo Stakes.
"He couldn't believe it when nothing was going by him!" quipped O'Brien who intends using Ice Dancer as a pacemaker for the stable next season. But there was a sting in the tail for Scallan as he got a five-day ban for his use of the whip.
A likely star for O'Brien next year could be the $2 million Sorcerous who beat In Time's Eye by a length in what could emerge as a very hot maiden. "A smashing horse," was O'Brien's verdict and Mick Kinane moved to within five of Pat Smullen in the table by also scoring on Pietra Dura.
