AN OTHERWISE lacklustre season took a significant upswing for the Aidan O’Brien team at Royal Ascot and the champion trainer is hopeful that trend will continue to Sunday’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh which could see a clash between Jan Vermeer and Cape Blanco.
O’Brien is pursuing a remarkable fifth victory in a row in Ireland’s premier classic and could be mob-handed in an attempt to secure an eighth Irish Derby success in all.
Both Jan Vermeer and Cape Blanco were yesterday described as being very much “in the mix” for Sunday’s €1.25 million highlight where they could be backed up by a Ballydoyle team that may also include both Midas Touch and At First Sight.
Huge expectations of Derby success at both Epsom and Chantilly came to nothing earlier this month as Jan Vermeer could finish only fourth to Workforce in England and Cape Blanco ran a very disappointing race in the French Derby behind Lope De Vega.
However Group One victories at Ascot last week for Lillie Langtry (Coronation Stakes) and Starspangledbanner (Golden Jubilee) have boosted morale at Ballydoyle and indicated the best may yet be to come from the world’s most powerful racing yard.
“Hopefully things look like they are starting to pick up and come together. You can see them every week, coming that bit more,” O’Brien said yesterday.
“With Jan Vermeer there wasn’t a lot of time between the Curragh (Gallinule Stakes) and Epsom and it looks like he has come on for the race.
“We’re very happy with Cape Blanco now too. The race in France was just one of those things, it turned into a bit of a mess. I don’t think there is a problem with running both in the same race if that is what we decide to do,” he added.
Midas Touch (fifth at Epsom) and At First Sight, a 100 to 1 Epsom runner-up before only managing fourth in last week’s King Edward VII Stakes, are also in the Curragh reckoning for a classic that O’Brien has heavily supported in recent years.
Five Ballydoyle runners chased home their stable companion Fame And Glory last season while five of the 11 runners in 2008 were O’Brien-trained.
The Curragh executive will be grateful for similar numerical support this time on the back of confirmation that the Epsom winner Workforce will miss out on a Derby double and will instead wait for the King George at Ascot next month.
Other home-trained possibles include Jim Bolger’s Silver Stakes winner Carriglawn, a half brother to the 2007 winner Soldier Of Fortune, and Tommy Stack’s highly-rated colt Noll Wallop.
Overseas plans for a race that last went for export with Hurricane Run five years ago will become clearer after tomorrow’s forfeit stage which is the final chance to enter the race for a €125,000 supplementary fee.
Frankie Dettori recommended Monterosso, winner of last Friday’s King Edward VII Stakes, as a likely candidate to be supplemented into the Curragh classic. The King Edward route to the Irish Derby has worked in the past for Shareef Dancer (1983) and English Prince (1974.)
Watering began at the Curragh last week and the going there yesterday was good to firm.
“We are monitoring the weather conditions and there is a break in the weather due midweek. But it is expected to pick up again for a good weekend,” said course manager Paul Hensey yesterday. “Workforce not coming is a disappointment but Coolmore look like having a strong team again and we will know more on Tuesday.”
The Group One feature on the Saturday of the Derby festival will be the Audi Pretty Polly Stakes where the Epsom Oaks third Remember When looks like flying the Ballydoyle flag.
O’Brien indicated after Lillie Langtry’s Coronation success that she might be upped to 10 furlongs in the Pretty Polly but said yesterday: “She probably won’t run. Remember When might go in that race instead.”
He also said Samuel Morse, fourth in Tuesday’s Coventry Stakes at Ascot, may make a quick reappearance in Sunday’s Railway Stakes, a race O’Brien has won 10 times in the last 11 years.
