In a Betfair Racing Only Bettor Podcast special with Kevin Blake he chats about the strong team he has assembled for the season ahead, with Guineas hopefuls, Pretty Gorgeous and Thunder Moon leading the charge, while his second Melbourne Cup winner, Twilight Payment, flies the flag for the older generation. There are also several stoutly breed 2 year-olds which he signposts as horses to follow, in this start of season special.
Click here to listen to the Betfair Racing Only Bettor Podcast special
Joseph O'Brien on...
On the season ahead: ‘’I’m really looking forward to the season ahead. I think we have a nice team of animals to go to war with. Obviously we have just had a couple of meetings and it’s a very exciting time of the year’’
On his 2000 Guineas hopeful, Thunder Moon: "I’m very pleased with how Thunder Moon has come through the winter. Everything has gone pretty smooth so far and he looks fantastic, we are very pleased with him. He did nothing wrong last year and it fantastic to have a horse of his stature in the yard.’’
When asked about his run in the Dewhurst: ‘’I thought is was a very good run. Obviously when you get beaten you are down in the dumps a little bit but when you sit back and see how the ground was, there was quite a bias to the opposite side of the track to where we were that day in Newmarket. If you pause the race inside the 2 furlong marker he’s travelling like the winner. It was a really good run when you break it down.’’
Where will he start off: ‘’I’d say at this stage we will go straight to Newmarket. Without saying with absolute certainty that he’s not going to run in a trial, I would say that it’s most likely that he will go straight to Newmarket."
On his prospects stepping up to a mile: "I’d be quite comfortable saying he’ll be able to get a mile as long as the ground isn’t too soft. He settles very well and he does have a very good turn of foot so I’m quite comfortable with the fact that we can go a mile. I wouldn’t say with any confidence that we could go much further than that at his stage to be honest but I think a mile will be within his range."
On his 1000 Guineas contender, Pretty Gorgeous: "She ran with credit every time she went to the races last year. She held her form very well. She won the fillies mile, she was very brave that day, she another exciting filly to have in the yard. It’s fantastic to have a guineas prospect like her."
When asked about her physical development since last seen: "She was always a very big strapping 2 year old filly and always look the type that would at least be as good, if not better, as she got older."
On the possibility of running in a trial before Newmarket: ‘’It looks as though we’ll probably more likely to go straight to the Guineas than take in a trial but again I wouldn’t be completely ruling it out. I’m please were we are with her. She’s a big gross mare so there is the option of having a run in the trial but I’d say it more likely at this stage she might go straight to the Guineas."
When asked about her stamina: ‘’I’d be hopefully that at some stage we could try her going 10 furlongs but I don’t think she is going to be an Oaks filly but I do think that she will go beyond a mile at some stage’’
On the emergence of My Generation as a Guineas contender following her win in the Patton Stakes in Dundalk: ‘’She won very impressively that day. We didn’t expect her to win a race of that nature on her second start when she was quite green on debut but she really stepped it up from her first run in Dundalk and won very impressively. Probably a good chance that she will go to Leopardstown for the 1000 Guineas trial depending on the ground conditions."
Click here to listen to the Betfair Racing Only Bettor Podcast special