Australia: ‘There’s no point beating around the bush — we’ve never had a horse like this’
Australia ultimately finished third in a messy race at Newmarket but O’Brien believes that due to a less than ideal build-up “there’s a chance there’s more to come” from the son of Galileo.
“Australia was sick six weeks before the Guineas,” the Ballydoyle maestro said. “He was the first to cough — it was probably seven weeks before the Guineas — and next thing it went through the place. But we were lucky because Australia got over it within a week or two. Then we had to train him for the Guineas. There’s a chance there’s more to come.”
O’Brien, while admitting frustration with the way the race unfolded, was keen to stress he had no wish detract from Night Of Thunder’s shock victory on the Rowley Mile and said he was “very happy” with how Australia came out of the race.
O’Brien, who will be looking for his fourth Derby success and third in succession at Epsom on June 7, has trained a litany of outstanding horses in his career and hard though he tried yesterday he couldn’t contain his confidence in Australia.
“The reality is — and there’s no point beating around the bush — is we’ve never had a horse like this,” he said.
“Camelot was, I thought, the best horse we’ve had for the Derby, that’s the way he came along. This horse is another step up.”
O’Brien said his level of belief in Australia will “probably come back and get me” but insisted he wasn’t trying to hype up his charge.
“I’m not trying to blow anything up, I’m just trying to say it as it is. Would we have run any of the Derby horses in the Guineas that he ran in on fast ground? I don’t think so. I’d imagine time will tell that the Guineas gone by was a lot better Guineas than the Guineas Camelot ran in.”
It was this time last year that O’Brien realised Australia had something extra.
“One morning they worked four furlongs and he did four 11-second furlongs, one after another. I’m not always the first to see the data, the lads (owners John Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor) see it first. And my phone started ringing: ‘Did you see Australia’s times?’
“I hadn’t but the boys had and that’s what made everyone’s ears prick up. I can’t remember a two-year-old do that.
“He’s very uncomplicated, he’s very relaxed, he has a great mind and he has speed. He’s one of these horses that always excites. You can ask me about him staying. Who knows? But you’d be surprised if he didn’t.”
Australia will be joined at Epsom by stablemates Orchestra, Kingfisher and Geoffrey Chaucer. Orchestra and Kingfisher won Derby trials at Chester last week but Geoffrey Chaucer ran into traffic problems when coming third in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial at Leopardstown on Sunday.
“It was a bit of a mess,” O’Brien said of Geoffrey Chaucer’s race.
“It was a walk at first and then it was kind of a bumping carriage in the straight, wasn’t it? It was a pity. You’re happy enough to get beat if you learn something, but I don’t think anybody learned anything.
“The horse is in good order and we got a race into him at least. He got plenty hustle and bustle in a couple of furlongs, he won’t get it that rough in Epsom.”
As for Orchestra, O’Brien took heart from the fact the hard-to-please Ryan Moore – his likely rider at Epsom — was impressed.
“We were very happy with him at Chester, he travelled around well. You’d have to be happy with him and Ryan was happy with him which says a lot!”
And the fiendish cough? “It’s more of less gone now, but as you can see with the form, it’s a bit in and out. I think we had 50 runners without a winner at one stage.
“We trained away because, obviously, the classics are vital for us. When there was a little bit of that (the cough) around we had to do the training very cautiously.
“We’re not complaining because everyone goes through difficult times. It was the easy thing to shut down and not race but then we weren’t going to have any chance in the Classics.
“We knew where we wanted to get to, but it wasn’t as straightforward as in some other years. It happens to everybody, but we’re happy with where our horses are now.”
