O’Brien ‘fighting time’ to get Kingsbarns ready
Already ruled out of the Qipco 2000 Guineas, it is hoped the winter favourite for the premier Classic could still make a Derby trial but the Ballydoyle trainer revealed any prep race would be left as close to the June 1 Epsom showpiece as possible.
O’Brien told At The Races: “We dreamed he could have been a Triple Crown horse this year, but that wasn’t to be. “He was always the horse we were dreaming about but things haven’t gone well with him, we hoped to have him at the Curragh (to gallop) a couple of weeks ago, but he didn’t make it and we are just struggling a little bit to get him 100 per cent.
“He’s in the pool a lot and we are trying to catch up. He’s no chance of making the Guineas, anyway.
“You can never be confident (of getting to the Derby) and I’d imagine it (a Derby trial) will be a late one, because it is time we are fighting with him. It (a trial) will probably be as close to the Derby as we can get because we want to give him as much time to get back as we can really.
“It’s far from ideal that we got stopped when we did, he was totally stopped for 10 days. We are forcing as much as we can without risking the horse because we always thought he was very special.”
Meanwhile, Ralph Beckett is considering options this week for his high-class pair Waterway Run and Anna’s Pearl.
The former won three of her five starts last season, including the Group Three Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket, and was a most creditable sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf at Santa Anita, beaten four lengths.
A daughter of Arch, she holds entries in the English and Irish Guineas, and could reappear at Newmarket or Newbury.
Anna’s Pearl remains a maiden after four outings but ran a big race when beaten half a length by the Jim Bolger-trained Loch Garman in the Group One Criterium International at Saint-Cloud in November.
He has the CSP European Free Handicap at HQ on Wednesday as his first possible starting point, although ground conditions will dictate where he goes.
