THE GREAT AIDAN O’Brien hopes to add another remarkable chapter to his career this weekend, beginning with a ninth victory in the English 2000 Guineas with Gustav Klimt on Saturday at Newmarket.
The 48-year-old is seeking not only his fourth Guineas double — he saddles the favourite Happily in Sunday’s 1000 Guineas — but also in a statement of intent, his first-choice jockey Ryan Moore will bypass the 2000 Guineas to ride Mendelssohn in the Kentucky Derby as he bids to win that race for the first time.
Gustav Klimt owes his favourite’s tag to a win in the Leopardstown 2000 Guineas trial although O’Brien still doesn’t know how good he is.
“We were anxious to get a run into him (the Leopardstown race) as he had not run since Newmarket in the middle of the summer,” said O’Brien on Tuesday.
“We would have liked to have run him in the Dewhurst (last season) to find out a little bit more about him, so we’re a little bit in the dark. We think and hope he’s in good form.”
As an indicator of how dominant O’Brien and Coolmore Stud are, the greatest perceived threat to Gustav Klimt among his 13 rivals is another of their runners, Saxon Warrior, who will forever be a sentimental favourite for his trainer.
His win in last year’s Racing Post Stakes gave O’Brien the world record for Group One winners in a year — he was to go on to win two more to set a new mark of 28.
However, having been favourite for the Guineas he drifted in the market and some believe he is more suited to the longer distance of the Epsom Derby.
O’Brien, though, is delighted with the manner in which Saxon Warrior has matured over the close-season.
“He has become a massive colt, a big monster of a horse,” purred O’Brien.
At the Kentucky Derby (11.50pm Saturday), Mendelssohn is disputing favouritism with Bob Baffert’s unbeaten three-year-old Justify
As well as bidding to give O’Brien a first win, the Scat Daddy colt is bidding to become the first Europe-based horse to capture the Run for the Roses.
O’Brien said Mendelssohn was in peak condition despite his flight to the United States being diverted to Indianapolis over an issue with travel documents.
“He’s not done much serious work since Dubai, we’ve just kept him ticking over,” O’Brien said.
“We’ve been very happy with everything and we’re all looking forward to the race.”
Mendelssohn will be ridden by Moore, who was in the saddle when the horse scored an eye-catching victory in the $1 million Juvenile Turf at the Breeders’ Cup last November.
– Updated 11.20: An earlier version of this article incorrectly named Saxon Farm as one of O’Brien’s runners; the horse in question is named Saxon Warrior.
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