When Aidan O’Brien can pitch not one but two Derby winners into Wednesday’s York Ebor festival action the claims for him sealing a seventh British trainer’s championship before the summer is out are hard to quibble with.
The Irishman already holds such a massive lead in the table that most bookmakers have stopped betting on it.
A haul of just over £5 million (€5.8 million) has come from less than 100 cross-channel runners. Andrew Balding is almost £2 million behind and has already admitted the task of overhauling his rival is all but impossible.
The last of O’Brien’s six British titles came in 2017 and regaining it will result in a singular display of Irish dominance with Willie Mullins the current champion National Hunt trainer in Britain.
Irish Derby hero Los Angeles returns to action in Great Voltigeur Stakes at York
York stage looks set to give City Of Troy a chance to finally live up to his massive reputation
French renaissance has Calandagan on course to lay siege to City Of Troy at York
Whistlejacket secures fifth Prix Morny success for trainer Aidan O’Brien
City Of Troy’s Derby success at Epsom is the major contributor to O’Brien’s hefty tally and he is favourite to land the richest ever Juddmonte International on Wednesday afternoon.
Just 35 minutes earlier though, the Irish Derby hero Los Angeles returns to action in the Group Two Great Voltigeur Stakes.
He is one of a Ballydoyle trio in the traditional St Leger trial as Illinois, runner-up in last month’s Grand Prix de Paris, also takes his chance alongside Euphoric.
The focus, though, will be on Los Angeles who stepped up from finishing third to City Of Troy at Epsom to secure his own Classic status at the Curragh.
An imposing son of Camelot, Los Angeles proved too good for Sunway and Ambiente Friendly in the Irish Derby, after which Ryan Moore was keen to dismiss any idea of him being a natural Leger contender.
Nevertheless, he has been supplemented into the Voltigeur, which a year ago went to his stable companion Continuous en route to Leger glory at Doncaster.
“We just thought this looked the right race for him to run in, even with his [Group One] penalty, so we were happy to supplement him,” said O’Brien.
“There’s lots of places he can go after it. Obviously, there’s the Leger at a mile and six, he could go up to two miles, or having won the Irish Derby he could always go back to a mile and four.
“This race might help us decide where he goes. We’ve got Illinois in there as well who won at Ascot [Queen’s Vase] and then we took him to France when he ran a great race.”
Up against Los Angeles & Co will be three local hopes, topped by the highly rated Kings Gambit.
With a pair of 2024 Derby winners on the programme, projecting on to next year’s Blue Riband might seem counterintuitive. But nevertheless that won’t stop it happening in the Group Three Acomb Stakes.
Godolphin’s Ruling Court and The Lion In Winter from Ballydoyle already top betting lists for the 2025 Derby following impressive debuts last month.
They supply out-of-the-ordinary pedigrees for both of racing’s superpower operations. The Lion In Winter is a son of Sea The Stars and was visually eye-catching at the Curragh. The actual form of the race has also started to stack up.
“He is just ready to start again and we thought the experience of York would do him good. The track should suit him,” O’Brien said. “We’ve got the Goffs Million possibly in our minds for him and the timing of this race, and the experience he should pick up, should help with that.”
In May Sheikh Mohammed forked out €2.3 million for the son of Coolmore’s new headline stallion Justify, and Ruling Court looked hugely impressive when scoring at Sandown.
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