Albert Einstein makes his eagerly-awaited seasonal debut in a Listed race over seven furlongs at the Curragh on Saturday.
Aidan O'Brien's highly-regarded colt hasn't been seen in action since winning his two juvenile starts early on in 2025, with the trainer recently nominating him as the "number one" contender from Ballydoyle being geared towards the Betfred 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 2.
It was stated he would potentially head straight to the first Classic of the Flat season but he has been declared, along with stablemate Neolithic, for this Saturday's 1xBet.ie Supports Irish Racing Gladness Stakes.
Speaking earlier in the week on the Nick Luck Daily Podcast, O'Brien explained: "We were obviously taking the horses to the Curragh on Sunday to work and that's where they're going. Yesterday wasn't a bad day but we had plenty of rain last night, but obviously the Gladness is there. Albert obviously hasn't run, he's not like a typical one of ours that's going to the Guineas first time out, because he only had a couple of runs at the very start of last year.
"It's a long time since he ran so we were just debating whether we should give him a run before the Guineas and if we were going to do that then where would that be. Then we just thought our only two options were the Curragh or Leopardstown and obviously he's planned to go to the Curragh on Saturday."
The son of Wootton Bassett will face nine rivals on Saturday and will break from stall five under Ryan Moore.
British challenger Ten Bob Tony, a five-year-old trained by Ed Walker, will be among his opponents with the O'Brien pair the only three-year-olds in the field.
Albert Einstein is the current 7/2 favourite with Paddy Power and Sky Bet for the 2000 Guineas.
O'Brien has won the 2000 Guineas on 10 occasions, but all of those winners were making their seasonal debut.
He is 0/13 with his 2000 Guineas runners since Magna Grecia won seven years ago, with favourites Auguste Rodin and City Of Troy well beaten at Newmarket before both redeemed themselves in the Betfred Derby at Epsom over a mile and a half the following month.
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