Albert Einstein ridden by Ryan Moore

Aidan O'Brien retains faith in vanquished 2000 Guineas gamble Albert Einstein after Curragh flop

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Sat March 28, 2026 · 2h ago

Aidan O'Brien retains his faith in Albert Einstein after the Betfred 2000 Guineas gamble trailed home in sixth on his seasonal reappearance.

The son of Wootton Bassett was backed into 7/2 favouritism for the first Classic of the season at Newmarket on May 2 on the back of favourable comments from his trainer, but he's now 16/1 for that race and unlikely to even turn up after a hard-pulling effort over seven furlongs in the Listed 1xBet.ie Supports Irish Racing Gladness Stakes at the Curragh.

After drifting from 1/3 on Friday evening to 11/10 by the time the gates opened, the three-year-old, having his first run for 307 days, was too fresh and keen in the hands of Ryan Moore and that refusal to settle gave him an uphill battle against seasoned older horses.

As the nine-year-old grey Big Gossey ploughed on for his second successive win in the race at 25/1, Albert Einstein crossed the line over four lengths adrift of the winner in sixth place.

However, O'Brien saw positives in the defeat and thinks he will probably be trained for a sprinting campaign now, with the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot a likely mid-season target.

WATCH: Albert Einstein finishes sixth on seasonal reappearance

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He told Racing TV: "He's always been a very quick horse and it was always in our head 'would this horse stay?' He's one of those horses that finds it very hard to go slow.

"Most horses find it very hard to go quick, he finds it very hard to go slow. His tempo was very strong straight away and Ryan just said he was in a gear too high early.

"If you're in a gear too high in that ground you're going to suffer. And that's what he did do. I was happy that when he got tired he didn't stop, but I think that was just ability keeping him going.

"There's every chance that he's a big sprinter. He's 570kg and going in that soft ground, it's tough. It was a tough thing to do with him.

"It depends what the lads want to do but I wouldn't be surprised if they say we'll go the sprinting route which was always on our mind.

"In the spring of his two-year-old career he was killing everything. That would've been over kind of four-furlong trips as a two-year-old, he's a naturally very quick horse.

"It's not written in stone as the lads could decide to do different, but I'd say there's a good chance that's what he is, a big fast horse.

"They have to start and we don't like putting them together at home and that stuff, we like to let them have their days out and let it be natural for them.

"We always thought he would [get to the top]. It's his natural instinct to be quick. He has the physical strength and size to be very good at that if that's the way the lads decide to go with him.

"It's better to find out now than running in the Guineas and going into Ascot without that run in a sprint. It's far from a problem and I believe he's going to be very exciting."

Albert Einstein is 14/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral for the Commonwealth Cup.