Excitement Builds As Stars Limber Up

Aidan O'Brien has Royal plans in mind for his Australian import Vancouver (Aus) (Medaglia D'Oro). The Ballydoyle handler is eyeing up the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot as a mid season target for the ex-Gai Waterhouse trained 3-year-old. The colt showed top class form in Australia as a juvenile most notably when winning the G1 Golden Slipper at Rosehill. Despite that success coming over six furlongs, O'Brien feels the colt has the scope to stretch out a bit further in trip. Explaining the horse's current routine O'Brien said, “He's been with me three weeks and he's doing one canter, he'll step up to two and we'll prepare him hopefully for Ascot. We'll be thinking six furlongs or a mile with him. I thought he would be a miler and I'd be thinking about the Queen Anne, even though he has shown six-furlong pace in Australia.”

Aidan O'Brien traditionally uses the opening day of the Irish flat season as an opportunity to give some of his stable stars an away day and Sunday saw the champion trainer unleash an army of fifty horses to work on The Curragh turf after racing. Among the throng were some of last season's star juveniles such as Air Force One (War Front), Minding (Ire) (Galileo), Hit It A Bomb (War Front) and Ballydoyle (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). The horses where dispatched in five groups of ten and O'Brien seemed quite happy with their level fo fitness for the time of year. “They probably went a bit quicker this year, the ground was a bit better. It's probably the first year we've come here and the ground has been a bit drier. Seamus [Heffernan] was very happy with Air Force Blue. He cruised up the middle. It's five weeks to the Guineas and we'll probably go straight there,” reported O'Brien after the gallop. Of his unbeaten GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Hit It A Bomb O'Brien commented,”He might go to the French Guineas assuming Air Force Blue goes to Newmarket. He might go for a trial there if he's going. He's done very well and he's carrying plenty of condition – a trial would help him.”

In a similar situation with the colts, O'Brien is also keen to keep his Group 1 winning 3-year-old fillies apart if he can and he explained, “Ballydoyle will stick to fast ground and could go for the French Guineas if Minding goes for the English one. Seamus seemed very happy with Minding, we'll look to the English Guineas but she wouldn't want the ground like concrete.” Of the older brigade O'Brien's other Breeders' Cup winner Found (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was also in action and O'Brien received positive feedback from Heffernan about the 4-year-old. “Seamus was very happy with her. She might come back here for the G3 Mooresbridge S. or to work, with a view to getting her ready for the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup.”