Aidan O’Brien is an unstoppable force and has been crowned as Royal Ascot‘s top trainer countless times. His runners are therefore always worth looking out for and he’s assembled a strong squad once again. We’ve selected four horses which he seems very confident about ahead of next week’s big meeting. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Winner of the Gold Cup back in 2022, injury setbacks meant he couldn’t defend his crown. His trainer believes he’s well set once again. He said: “It’s a case of so far so good. He’s hit every marker for us and his two runs this season have been lovely and have set us up for the Gold Cup. Ryan was very happy with him in the Saval Beg. It’s all gone very smoothly for him this season and we’re looking forward to it.”
This impeccably bred son of Minding was an awesome winner of the National Stakes at two and plenty of improvement is expected from his effort in the French 2000 Guineas. O’Brien said: “The plan all along has been for him to go to the St James’s Palace after the French 2,000. Things just didn’t work out for him at Longchamp and it was a bit of a mess. He’s better than that and we feel he’s come forward nicely since then – you should see a completely different horse at Ascot. He’s been doing everything right at home and everyone is happy.”
A set back led her to miss the 1000 Guineas and it was a rush to get her back for the Irish equivalent. Her trainer said: “We were absolutely over the moon with her run in the Irish 1,000 Guineas. She had a hold-up earlier in the year and was only just about ready to start back. We knew we had to run her there if we were going to Ascot and didn’t expect her to run half as well as she did. She’s done everything right at home since and it’s all systems go for the Coronation Stakes. She’s come forward nicely, as we expected she would.”
It’s normal to expect a strong team of Juveniles from Ballydoyle at Royal Ascot and Whistlejacket could be the best of them. O’Brien remarked: “He’s a fast horse and had no problem dropping back to five the last day. He seemed to be in his comfort zone every step of the way there and we’ve had the Norfolk in mind for him ever since. He’s doing everything we ask of him and seems to be a very nice colt.”
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