Aidan O’Brien has raised the possibility of running five horses in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh next weekend after hinting that King Edward VII Stakes winner Causeway could join his four stablemates that contested the Betfred Derby.
The Ballydolye maestro confirmed Christmas Day, winner of the Epsom Downs showpiece, and Benvenuto Cellini, who finished tenth before later being deemed a non-runner in the same race, could take their place in the Irish Classic, alongside Pierre Bonnard and Action.
And O’Brien, who is chasing a record extending 18th win in the race, could further strengthen his team in the 1.25 million euro prize by giving Causeway a quick turnaround following his battling success in the Group Two prize at the Royal meeting on Friday.
The trainer said: “The plan at the moment is for the four Epsom horses to stay in and Causeway is also a possibility. What we will run will come out of that, and it could be that we run three, four or five in the race. We always thought that those horses were the horses for it. The horses that ran at Epsom Downs seem fine so far. It will be interesting to see what happens as we will all learn a lot, hopefully the ground will be nice.”
And while it was Christmas Day that came out on top at Epsom Downs, O’Brien says it will be interesting to see if that form can be upheld on better conditions.
O’Brien said: “We always thought that Benvenuto was a lovely ground horse. I think it will be an interesting race. We’ve always loved him, and he is a great moving horse, and he likes a nice bit of ground.”
“With Causeway it would be a late decision if we decide to run him. It was always possible that he could be the type of horse for it. He didn’t really have to tougher a race in the King Edward. He is a horse that minds himself and Ryan knew what he was like. He protected and looked after him as long as he could.”
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