Breeders is just right for Blackbeard, says O’Brien

AIDAN O’BRIEN believes the full-on tempo of American racing at the Breeders’ Cup will suit his main contender Blackbeard down to the ground. Ryan Moore’s mount, 3-1 favourite for the Juvenile Turf Sprint, has won the Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes on his last two runs but his starts have become more memorable because of his pre-race antics when he paws at the turf with his front legs while getting his nose close to the ground as well as fly-leaping in the air. O’Brien (below) said: ‘When you walk him into the stalls he goes in so fast he hits the front of the gate. He is too genuine. ‘One thing he doesn’t do well is wait. He hasn’t got patience but he is so enthusiastic. When you see him at the start dancing, prancing and diving, all he wants to do is get on with it. He can’t understand why he has to wait behind the stalls. His best performance by a mile was in the Middle Park when they went hard and even then Ryan said he ended up getting there too early. That’s what he loves so a hard strong pace will suit him.’ Entries for the 14 races at the $31million Breeders’ Cup, which starts a week on Friday, are made today and announced on Wednesday.

O’Brien’s horses will be part of a 40-plus European squad for the two-day meeting at Keeneland in Kentucky. O’Brien, who has won 13 Breeders’ Cup races, will have a big team once again. As well as Blackbeard his possible runners include Broome and Stone Age in the Turf, Order Of Australia in the Mile which he won at Keeneland in 2020, Oaks winner Tuesday and possibly Toy in the Filly & Mare Turf, Cairo, winner of the Group Three Killavullan Stakes at Leopardstown, and Victoria Road in the Juvenile Turf.

His runners in the Juvenile Fillies Turf could be Never Ending Story, who was third in the Prix Marcel Boussac, and Royal Ascot winner and Cheveley Park Stakes runner-up Meditate. Meanwhile, O’Brien-trained Auguste Rodin is favourite for the 2023 2,000 Guineas (5-1) and the Derby (4-1) after an impressive three-and-a-halflength win in Saturday’s Group One Vertem Futurity Trophy at Doncaster.

O’Brien added: ‘We always felt he was very classy but no one had seen it on the track until now. He has a great mind and unbelievable physique.’