Aidan O’Brien's training approach with Albert Einstein will differ to any of previous 10 Newmarket winners
HAS IT ALL: Albert Einstein and Aidan O'Brien pictured in Ballydoyle. Pic: Healy Racing
First impressions count but they can sometimes mislead.
When Aidan O’Brien first started watching Albert Einstein work in the spring of last year, his first thought was not that the Wootton Bassett colt might be next superstar on the Ballydoyle production line but dread that the 2025 crop of two-year-olds were not up to much.
Time would prove that fear to be misplaced as nine of O’Brien’s 26 Group 1 winners across last year were provided by juveniles but, such was Albert Einstein’s superiority over his age group, the trainer initially feared the worst.
“When we started working him in the spring of his two-year-old career, we thought all the two-year-olds were no good,” O’Brien told members of the assembled media at Ballydoyle on Monday.
“We thought that he was the only horse we had. He was that much above everything else, it was unusual. He was so far ahead of everything, it wasn't funny.”
Sadly, his juvenile career was limited to just two six-furlong runs 15 days apart last May, a maiden win at Naas followed by a Group 3 success at the Curragh. An injury sustained there prematurely ended his campaign but he has now fully recovered O’Brien doesn’t hesitate when asked the pecking order for his Newmarket 2000 Guineas contenders.
“The number one horse at the moment is Albert,” he said. “He's done very well physically, he's big, powerful, and he's very rapid.
“Obviously we won't know whether he's going to get the mile until we do it. The stride people, the heart people, the pedigree people, everyone says that he will get a mile.”
While O’Brien hasn’t won the 2000 Guineas since 2019, he has claimed the first Classic of the British season more than any other trainer in history.
However, the training approach with Albert Einstein will differ to any of O’Brien’s previous 10 Newmarket winners.
“We don't want to wake him up too much. So we're going to train him asleep and see what's going to happen on the day. That's what we plan on doing,” O’Brien explained.
“He's like a sprinter, he hits the gates quick and travels very strong. So, what we intend doing with him is training him without ever looking at him. So, he's going to go to the Guineas without ever coming off the bridle. We're going to see then.
“I don't know whether he'd stay or not. Like I said, everyone says he will but we'll have to see it first. And we're going to learn that day.”
Asked if Albert Einstein is the horse he’s most excited about this year, O’Brien replied: “I think he's the horse everyone is dreaming about. Because there's so much that could be, he has everything.
“I suppose where it’s all coming from is what he was doing in the spring before he ever ran. He was just kind of mega-exciting, really.”
So much so that O’Brien felt he couldn’t not give him a Derby entry.
“His pedigree says he could get the Derby trip but I'd be very happy if he gets a mile, to tell you the truth,” O’Brien said.
“But how do you leave a horse like him out of the Derby? You don't know what's going to happen and we won't really know until we start racing.”
As things stand, however, O’Brien views Pierre Bonnard, a Group 1 winner at Saint-Cloud at the end of last season, as the main Ballydoyle Derby contender.
“Pierre Bonnard is being trained for Epsom, we're very happy with him,” O’Brien said. “He might have the two Irish trials (Ballysax and Leopardstown Trial) before it.
“He's very straightforward, he's a big Camelot, he's very relaxed and chilled. Christophe (Soumillon) was always super impressed by him, Ryan (Moore) rode him for the first time yesterday morning.
“I remember running him at Leopardstown first time and the next time going to Dundalk I was afraid, but Wayne (Lordan) said he'd handle the surface no bother and he loved it so that means he'll handle fast ground.
“You'd imagine he'll get a mile and a half well because he's so relaxed. He's big and he's classy and he's done very well. He's a big, rangy horse.”
Having won the last three renewals of the Derby to take his personal tally to 11, it’s no surprise that the Epsom Classic is still the prize O’Brien craves most. It remains, he says, the ultimate test of the thoroughbred.
“The Derby is still the race, it's what the whole breed is based on. You can kid yourself about other races and some of them are great for the older horses but anyone that breeds a horse, that is where they are aimed.
“Some of them don't do an awful lot after it because it is such a tough race. It's the ultimate test, mental, physical, they have to be quick, they have to stay. It's a brutal race, but that is the way it has to be, unforgiving. It's the race the whole breed is based on. It's just the way it is.”
Minnie Hauk was the Ballydoyle flag-bearer in 2025, claiming a Group 1 Oaks hat-trick before going down by just a head by Daryz in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
The Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot will be her early-season target this season.
“Minnie Hauk will be trained for the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh and have a run before it and then she might go to Ascot for the mile-and-a-quarter race (Prince of Wales's),” he said.
“She might start off in the Mooresbridge, something like that. She might be the one the Prince of Wales's will suit the most, but obviously she'll have the Coronation Cup as a possible too.
“I think all roads lead back to the Arc with her. There'll be other three-year-olds coming along this year so it will depend on how they fare. She's stronger this year, twice as wide and is in great order. We're not rushing her but everything she's doing is lovely."
