Aidan O'Brien team for the 2025 Sky Bet Ebor Festival at York Racecourse

Delacroix lines up in the Juddmonte International. How did he come out of Sandown?

Good. He looks a very good horse, and we always thought he was. Before the Derby this year he looked a little bit different. He’s a horse with a lot of speed who obviously quickens very well.

He came out of Sandown great. What he did there was kind of impossible, but he did it. His fractions for the last two furlongs, it’s very unusual that a horse over a mile-and-a-quarter can do those sort of fractions really.

I’ve had to watch that race back three or four times to try and work out how has he won. Did you?

It was very unusual. He really didn’t get out until after the two pole and against the hill, it’s very difficult from there, very rarely you see a horse win a top-class Group One from there. It’s very unusual.

He’s out of Tepin who was a champion miler from the States, did you always think speed was a real asset of his or has he got quicker as the year has gone on?

We always thought he wouldn’t have a problem being a middle-distance horse. He had no problems at ten furlongs in his two trials and we saw at Sandown that he does quicken and that’s what separates really top horses from the others, they can travel and quicken. That’s seemingly what he has. He has great physical strength. He’s by Dubawi, a big, scopey powerful colt with a great mind as well.

I know the Juddmonte International is a race you always target. How much do you want to win it with a champion or potential champion?

It’s a very prestigious race and a very important one for a stallion if you can make it happen. It’s a very tough race to win and you don’t take it for granted for one minute and it’s great to have him there and able to compete this year. We think he has a great chance. We’ve been very happy since Sandown; he’s in great shape.

York is a very fair track, is there an ideal set of conditions ground wise?

I think good, safe ground is what William Derby and his team always produce and that’s all you can ask for. Some horses like an ease, some like it quick, but good, safe ground is fine for any horse, and everyone gets a fair shot at it.

In terms of ability, what you seen at home and what you’ve seen on the track, does he match up to you previous Juddmonte International winners?

He’s doing everything very well; his work is very good. I couldn’t be happier with everything he’s done since Sandown. Like I said that day he looked going past the two like he could not win and ended up winning snugly. We’re looking forward to it.

Lambourn runs in the Sky Bet Great Voltigeur. How did he come out of the Irish Derby and what are your expectations going to York?

He came out of it lovely. He could have gone to the King George but we waited to go to the Voltigeur. The thinking is after York he can go anywhere. He can obviously go to the Leger, or he could go to the Arc. He’s a very unassuming, straightforward horse and everything has gone well with him too.

He’s been ticking over and this is another run into him and he’s been trained for a race to go into another race from. He’s had an easy time, enjoyed everything that he’s been doing, he hasn’t been asked a whole lot, and everyone seems happy with him.

What route do you see him going after York?

I’m not sure. Obviously Scandinavia has come into the picture now and I think the lads would like him to have first go at the Leger. If the ground was going to be good or quicker, it’s a very good chance he could go there and Lambourn to the Arc or something like that.

I think Scandinavia has been given the number one St Leger slot at the moment. He’s a straightforward stayer too and is a beautiful mover. Good ground would suit him. Lambourn seems to go on anything, soft, fast, whatever and it looks like he will stay further than a mile-and-a-half too.

I love his attitude to racing, he seems to really relish it. Has he always been like that?

He’s a typical son of Australia. All his stock are like that and he’s putting it into the fillies too. They will put it into their foals and that’s very important. He has a super mind, is very unassuming and straightforward. It’s hard to believe really.

You have a few in the Acomb including Italy. You ran him in the Superlative at Newmarket, a race you like to target, was more like a dodgem ride at a fairground this year. How did he come out if it?

He came out of it very well. He was babyish going in and we were using it as a stepping stone. It got a little messy, he was pushed out into the middle and a little green and he’s going to probably improve fitness wise from it too.

He’s a very good horse, works very well. He’s a big, scopey, colt with a lot of class. Obviously, he’s not the finished article at the moment and still won’t be for his next run but we think he’s going to turn into a very good horse. He’s going to be something exciting when it happens, when he gets it together. We’re not forcing him, it will happen gently and we’ll see what happens next time.

The Acomb you need a horse who knows their job. It’s a quick seven furlongs, they jump and don’t come back so he could be ready for it, but we’ll know on the day.

Montreal was very impressive the last day over a mile and looks a very nice horse as well. He’d be going back to seven at York and is going to be a nice horse. Neolithic has always worked better than he ran and when we put cheekpieces on last time it brought him together.

He was always laidback, and it’s a race that could suit him. He’s hardy, plenty of pace and seven furlongs at York shouldn’t be a problem to him. He’s more hardened than the other two.

You’ve won four of the last five runnings of the Pertemps Network Yorkshire Oaks and the market suggests you’ll do so again with Minnie Hauk. She looks very talented. How much of what she has done has surprised you?

We always felt she had a lot of class and liked her. She was beaten first time by Joseph’s good filly (Wemightakedlongway) and he obviously had her a little more forward than we had ours.

She went and won her maiden next time and was finished for the year. She then went to Chester at three just ready to start and won and then went to Epsom and won. She beat a very good filly of our own (Whirl) there and then went to the Curragh and beat Joseph’s good filly in the Irish Oaks.

We’ve always felt that we haven’t seen the best of her yet and it will be interesting to see if that happens or not. We’ve always felt the stronger level, a more evenly-run race will see her at her best, but I suppose it was strongly-enough run at Epsom,

Ryan felt all the way down the straight there that he was going to win. He nursed her, asked her to do what he thought she had to do to win, and Wayne (Lordan) and Whirl ran back at her at the line.

When you look at what that filly has done since you can see how that happened. Everything has gone well with Minnie Hauk since the Curragh. I think the track at York will suit her and I’d imagine this pace will be a bit stronger. She’s in against the older fillies and it will be interesting to see if she is better than we have seen so far. We’ve always felt she was but obviously you have to see it on the track.

Did Ryan say he always felt in control of the Irish Oaks?

The plan was to jump and sit second to Wayne on Island Hopping but obvious Dylan (Browne McMonagle on Wemightakedlongway) wanted that slot and took it which was the right thing for him and for Joseph. Because of that Ryan found himself in third and was a little at the mercy of Dylan but he was happy enough to sit where he sat.

He felt he was going to pick up Dylan when he wanted to and I suppose because of that she might not have been as impressive as she might have been but the second filly could be very good too. We had the third.

I think it was a tactical race, and she still won nicely at the end. At the two marker you’d say Joseph’s filly might have been going a bit better than her but I don’t think Ryan felt that. She did win very well at the end.

Could you have a runner in Friday’s Weatherbys Lonsdale Cup?

Shackleton is a possibility. We think he wants to go out in trip. We feel like we haven’t seen the best of him yet. We were thinking of running Illinois but felt it might come a bit too quick. We rushed him a bit for Ascot and then he had to come back to Goodwood and we maybe feel we haven’t seen the best of him in either run.

Our intention wasn’t to go to Ascot with him for the Gold Cup and our preparation would have been different had we been doing that, but he got pulled into the slot when Kyprios retired.

He ran very well, and we thought there was more to come and because of that it probably meant we didn’t have him where we wanted him for Goodwood even though he ran a very good race there.

Maybe we did and time will tell that Scandinavia is very good but we feel there’s more to come from Illinois whether it be the end of this year or next year.

Maybe we’ll give him a little bit of time and look at the Irish Leger next and at the moment it looks like it might be Shackleton for York.

Exactly looks to be your horse for the Sky Bet City Of York?

I think so. She just about gets a mile but we’re looking forward to taking her back to seven and we think it’s a race that could really suit her. And that that’s what’s going to make this race special going forward, Classic horses dropping back and sprinters moving up. I think it’s going to be a big success.

We think seven is about right for Exactly but obviously you don’t know until you run her. Last year we felt a mile was stretching her a little even though she’s by Frankel she’s out of a sprinter and is made like a sprinter, she has a big backside on her.

She’s quick through a race and quickens very well but over a mile she finds the last half-a-furlong a long way.

Onto the Sky Bet Ebor and London City. He won at York at the Dante Meeting in 2024. How is he heading back there?

It’s been really perfect this year. He’s on a long-term programme and was always coming back here for the Ebor. He was on the mark he had, and we had to mind it.

He’s had his two runs, and he improved from the first to the second. They were a little rushed as we needed to get him there and he got very tired the first day at the Curragh and improved nicely next time a Group race back there.

We were very happy with that and are looking forward to seeing him run. He’s on a lovely mark, it’s a very competitive race, and while we’ve mapped it out for him, so have 20 others for their horses.

That’s what makes the Ebor such a great race and we’re looking forward to it. He’s a big, open galloper who has won on the track before. He’s had little issues that have held him up before but so far this time everything has been lovely and we’re looking forward to seeing what he does.

It could happen for him at York, it’s very possible. Obviously when horses come back from problems sometimes, they don’t ever come back to what they were but it is possible.

Will Queenstown join London City in the race?

He will. He ran in the Ebor last year off a very bad prep and got tired. He’s a different horse this year and is on the same programme as London City. The two of them are working together, they’ve run in the same races together so it will be interesting

We’re very happy with where he is. He doesn’t have as much class as London City but he does stay very well and is in a good place. At the moment we think he’s a different horse to the one who ran in it last season.

Which horse of yours are you most looking forward to seeing in action next week?

Delacroix. He’s the one. What he did in the Eclipse, he shouldn’t have been able to do, no horse should. It was an impossible thing. Everything has gone really well since and it will be interesting to watch him, and everyone is looking forward to seeing what happens.

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