Horse Racing
Gstaad could be the one for O’Brien and Moore on 2000 Guineas day
Gstaad appears increasingly likely to assume the position of Aidan O’Brien’s chief hope of winning a 12th Betfred 2000 Guineas following the defeat of his much-vaunted stablemate Albert Einstein at the Curragh on Saturday.
A galaxy of Ballydoyle stars made the trip to the home of Irish Flat racing for a gallops morning on Sunday, less than 24 hours after the stable’s previously unbeaten Guineas favourite disappointed when hot favourite for the Listed Gladness Stakes.
While O’Brien has not yet ruled out the possibility of Albert Einstein heading to Newmarket on the first Saturday of May, he suggested the the son of Wootton Bassett could instead revert to sprinting and it appears notable that Coventry Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Gstaad was the chosen mount of Ryan Moore when he took part in the first of six galloping groups.
“We’re very happy, the ground was very soft obviously and the plan was just to give them a day away and give them a nice experience and learn a little bit about them,” O’Brien explained.
“Looking at it it’s very hard to tell a lot, but when you speak to the lads (riders) you kind of get a fair sense of what happened.
“Ryan picked to ride Gstaad and obviously he had it in his head that he could be the horse for Newmarket.”
Moore was clearly pleased with how Gstaad performed in a 16-horse group that also included dual French Group One winner Puerto Rico, Futurity Trophy victor Hawk Mountain and the unbeaten but long-absent Twain.
Of Gstaad, Moore said: “I was very happy with him, he’s done well from two to three and he did everything right in his work.
“I was very easy on him, he was kind of last to show his hand but he did everything that was asked.”
Puerto Rico also looks to be in the Guineas picture, while O’Brien further reflected on Albert Einstein’s Saturday reverse.
“He was a bit disappointing. Looking at the video we were kind of happy as he started off three or four lengths off the lead and it was better he behaved well and got beat rather than behaved badly and won,” he continued.
“We felt he did behave well. He was a little bit strong in Ryan’s hands, but Ryan said he was by no means unmanageable.
“Ryan felt they were going very slow for the pace he has in that bad ground, so when you look at it in the cold light of day you have to be happy enough and we’ll see how he is over the next couple of weeks and then the lads will decide whether they’d like to take a chance at a mile or go back sprinting.
“After yesterday the first thought in my head was that he’s a sprinter – we always thought he was very quick – and usually those horses that have that speed and are quick thinkers, it’s very hard to get them to go slow and get a mile and that is the way he has always been.
“We were kind of surprised how well he did behave, but it would be very easy to make him a very fast horse and sometimes it’s hard to go against nature.”
If Albert Einstein does revert to sprinting he may well cross paths at some stage with stablemate Charles Darwin, who impressed in his gallop with three others having been off the track since dominating the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot last summer.
O’Brien said: “He’s a big sprinter, he looks a fast horse doesn’t he? He did go very well this morning.
“He hasn’t done anything for a long time and you’d have to be very happy with him.”
As is often the case the Ballydoyle team appear to have an embarrassment riches in the middle-distance division of three-year-old colts, with Pierre Bonnard, Benvenuto Cellini, Hawk Mountain and Montreal all considered potential Derby contenders.
Pierre Bonnard, who looks bound for a Leopardstown Derby trial, was partnered by Moore in a workout alongside Benvenuto Cellini, St Leger winner Scandinavia and dual Derby hero Lambourn among others, and the rider said: “Pierre Bonnard was in the middle and travelled very well and gave me a good feel.
“The ground out there is very soft, which wouldn’t be ideal.”
Considering some of his other Derby contenders, O’Brien said: “Benvenuto Cellini went well – he’s a horse who could be the second string in the Epsom Derby – and Constitution River went very well too. He could go down the French Derby route.
“Benvenuto Cellini could go to a trial in Leopardstown or he could go to the Dante at York or Lingfield. It depends how he comes out of his work today, but we were surprised how well he went through the ground and he finished very strong, so he is obviously a very classy horse.
“One horse that went very well that no one is going to talk about is a horse called Port Of Spain. He ran a good few times last year and we haven’t seen the best of him – he’s after maturing and he’s one of those St Mark’s Basilica horses that has made a big jump from two to three.
“He looks like a horse that will go a mile and a quarter and he can go to a Classic trial and we’ll see how that goes. We’re very happy with him.
“Hawk Mountain went very well and I suppose Montreal is a bit of a sleeper. He won his maiden very easily in Leopardstown and there’s a chance he could go to Chantilly for a trial for the French Derby. He’s probably a horse that’s a little bit under the radar, because he didn’t get to run again after his maiden.”
