O’Brien boasts favourite links

THERE’S a very real possibility master trainer Aidan O’Brien will watch a horse he used to train take the win at today’s Melbourne Cup at Flemington.

The Irishman used to train good Cup chances Southern France ($21) and $9 second favourite Constantinople.

But when David Hayes offered to buy Constantinople for $1.4 million, Coolmore could not resist and handed him over.

And despite having Magic Wand and Hunting Horn in the race, O’Brien’s travelling foreman T.J. Comerford said their other runner, Il Paradiso, would struggle to beat his former stablemate. “Constantinople has unbelievable ability and is a massive danger,” Comerford said.

“They [ Coolmore] probably had to go with the money. I think Constantinople would beat Il Paradiso again.”

Comerford warned, however, that Magic Wand would be a force in the race.

Magic Wand hit a headwind in the Cox Plate and did all the donkey work before Lys Gracieux stormed home to win as she ran fourth in her last start.

O’Brien and the team thought there was plenty of merit in that run.

“In all our years of coming here I think Magic Wand is the one who has the most class of any horse we’ve brought here but the trip is an issue,” Comerford said. “Between Aidan and Ryan [Moore] they decided Magic Wand would be the better choice given her form is better at home.”

Magic Wand’s critics will say she won’t stay the 3200m because she has not proved herself past 2400m. Comerford said it was a fair point.

“She’s unproven at the trip but when we tried her over 2400m before it didn’t go to plan but our horses weren’t hitting form then,” he said.

“She does have the class and has a good weight [53.5kg] and being drawn out there [24] won’t be much of an issue.

“She’s our class act and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if she got the distance because she relaxes so well.”