Aidan O’Brien’s ability to defy logic never ceases to amaze
The rabbit he pulled out of the hat in the shape of once-raced Kingsbarns to land the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster last Saturday was some training feat.
On what he had achieved on the racecourse the son of Galileo had no business even running in the Group 1, not to mind actually winning it.
He began life in a lowly maiden at Navan last month, going off at 4-11 and scoring by seven lengths.
He was impressive enough, but all it told us was that here was a colt of some potential, that might make a decent enough three-year-old.
But then O’Brien supplemented him for the Racing Post Trophy and later decided he was going to be his sole representative in the race.
Then those whose job it is to get as much publicity as possible for off-course bookmakers went into overdrive, telling us about the major gamble on the horse.
We’d heard it all before, didn’t take the slightest notice of what we regarded as mere waffle and waited for it all to go pear-shaped.
The Navan heat Kingsbarns won looked a very poor contest and, indeed, was run in a time that was slower than Andrew Oliver’s 25-1 shot Dubaya took to win the next race that afternoon, a fillies maiden.
All the evidence is that the original Navan thinking was more than correct. In second place was Risk Return, who hasn’t run since, but was ninth of 14 on his debut at Roscommon.
The third and fourth from Navan, however, Rontique and Jasgo Star respectively, have reappeared in the meantime.
Rontique was in action at Leopardstown a week ago, finishing fifth of nine behind Harley’s Harley in a nursery.
That same day at Leopardstown, Jasgo Star was beaten 11 lengths into fifth place in the maiden won by John Oxx’s Zand.
The bottom line is if anyone else bar O’Brien trained Kingsbarns he would have went of at least 10-1, probably even bigger, at Doncaster.
But, undaunted, the believers waded in, the horse went off favourite and won without turning a hair.
So O’Brien, who had previously failed to win with a two-year-old in Britain this season, kept the best wine ‘til last and now, rather remarkably, one of his inmates heads for winters quarters as favourite for the Epsom Derby. And, quite frankly, deservedly so.
O’Brien’s other major achievement for the current campaign has to be making his son, Joseph, champion jockey.
I know the youngster had massive ammunition at his disposal, but it was a terrific effort on his part all of the same and the number of errors he might be accused of making could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
But will he be the number one jockey to Ballydoyle-Coolmore next season, now that really is the million dollar question?
Looking at Bryan Cooper driving Lyreen Legend to victory in a beginners’ chase at Galway on Monday reinforced one’s thinking that he may well be a champion jockey in the making.
He is already well established as Dessie Hughes’ number one jockey and seems to possess a real racing brain.
When you have your few quid on a horse in a contest such as this then what you want is for the pilot to give his partner a clear view of the obstacles and to be as close to the front as possible, where there is the least danger.
Cooper has long grasped that concept and is simply a very talented rider, who surely only needs normal luck to go a long way.
His partnership with Hughes has been hugely fruitful and, of course, the trainer banged in four winners in total on Monday, between Galway and Naas.
I took particular interest in Gordon Elliott’s Mount Benbulben, who made his debut over fences at Naas, taking third behind Jenari and Dylan Ross.
He lined our pockets quite nicely in the first half of last season, but then cost us when trounced by Boston Bob at Navan just before Christmas.
After that Mount Benbulben wasn’t seen again until proving rather disappointing at the Cheltenham festival.
At Naas, he seemed to be strongly fancied and went off the 6-4 favourite. The seven-year-old jumped well and travelled nicely through the contest.
Two miles was definitely on the short side, but I must confess I was expecting more from him in the straight.
He is certainly entitled to come on plenty for the outing and will benefit from a step up in trip.
But for the moment, the jury is out on the true merit of a horse, who got us all excited not so long ago.
