O’Brien considers Camelot in fine fettle for his joust on the Downs
SINCE saddling High Chaparral to win the 2002 Derby, Aidan O’Brien has had 39 unsuccessful attempts at landing flat racing’s biggest prize and has got used to leaving Epsom somewhat humbled in recent years. However, the master of Ballydoyle has, in the shape of recent 2000 Guineas winner Camelot, a horse talented enough to end a decade of drought.
The Investec Derby is just two weeks away on Saturday and O’Brien recalls the moment the Coolmore “boys” saw the still unbeaten son of Montjeu at the sales and immediately thought that he was very special. “Everything about him, from his pedigree to his looks and the way he moved suggested he could be exciting. Usually horses like that are just too good to be true,” the Irish trainer told City A.M.
Yet the horse that caught their eye that day a couple of years ago has blossomed and, even though he landed the 2000 Guineas earlier this month, he is still improving according to his trainer. “It all went really well at Newmarket and he had to run through gaps, put his head down and really fight at the end. We think he learnt a lot from the race as Joseph had to hit him on both sides. He has come out of it well and I’m happy with him,” said O’Brien.
What makes the story that much more of a fairytale is that Camelot is ridden by Aidan and wife Annemarie’s eldest son, Joseph. The 18-year-old was an accomplished Pony Club rider who started out on the Flat almost three years ago to the day. His career stepped up a gear in 2010 when he rode 39 winners and finished the campaign as joint-champion apprentice. Last season he had his first Classic success aboard Roderic O’Connor in the Irish 2000 Guineas and rounded it off by winning the Breeders’ Cup Turf on St Nicholas Abbey.
However, the young O’Brien now finds himself on board a horse who could potentially re-write the record books by becoming the first to land racing’s Triple Crown (the 2000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger) since Nijinsky in 1970. His father admits he is feeling the pressure, but certainly believes that Joseph is up to the task. “He’s been involved in the operation since he could walk and what people don’t realise is that he’s been in the middle of things for a very long time now,” he said. “He was in the back of the jeep before he could ride out and has seen all our good days, as well as the ordinary ones.”
There is a unique closeness between father and son that O’Brien sees as a huge advantage rather than a negative. “It’s a massive help as we can talk about anything at any time of day or night.” When pressed on who wins the debates and arguments on things like tactics, there is apparently only one winner. “I cannot remember ever winning one,” he quips, before pointing out that it was Joseph’s decision to ride Camelot like “a six-furlong horse” in the Guineas – and that transpired to be the correct one.
As for the horse, O’Brien admits that even though it has been a fairytale to this point, the Investec Derby at Epsom represents a very different test. His breeding suggests he should relish the step up in trip, but his handler warns that he does have serious Kingmambo and Danehill traits which normally are an indicator of speed rather than stamina.
Camelot will also have to cope with the whole Epsom experience, and his ability to handle the preliminaries, as well as the undulations and the trip down to the start, are all playing on his trainer’s mind. Yet, you cannot help but get the feeling the team at Ballydoyle may well have unearthed the superstar their multi-million euro breeding operation has spent decades searching for.
The training establishment is unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed and O’Brien’s attention to detail is quite extraordinary. Not only does he know the name of every horse that parades in front of us, he knows how they are bred and the name of the lad or lass sat on top.
Camelot’s preparation for the Investec Derby includes daily gallops around a replica Epsom, including a mock Tattenham Corner, and one certainty is that his genius trainer will leave no stone unturned in pursuit of glory. “I cannot even begin to dream about Joseph winning the Derby,” he confesses. Bookmakers William Hill are currently only offering even money that the dream will come true.
When pressed on the rest of the team likely to travel to Epsom for the big one alongside Camelot, it was telling that O’Brien struggled to nominate another serious raider. “Astrology is a nice horse and so is the one that won at Sandown,” is all he will say. Apparently, the “boys” will decide in the next week or two on the makeup of the rest of the squad, but it is abundantly clear that they will simply be making up the numbers.