World’s best trainer Aidan O’Brien to target Victorian country cups next spring

Legendary Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien is considering expanding his spring-time operation Down Under with two of Victoria’s most sought after country cups in the mix.

Michael Walker rides Prince Of Arran to victory in the Geelong Cup.

Irish training superstar Aidan O’Brien hasn’t been sighted on an Australian racetrack since the infamous fallout from the 2008 Melbourne Cup, but he hopes to shape the 2020 Victorian spring.

O’Brien, owner of a world record 329 Group 1s, was absent at Flemington as Magic Wand (Mackinnon Stakes) and Hunting Horn (Moonee Valley Gold Cup) but he is already laying the foundations for next spring.

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O’Brien’s travelling foreman TJ Comerford said the sport’s most decorated trainer was likely to spread his focus next spring, with an emphasis on races such as the Geelong and Bendigo Cups.

“He probably doesn’t know yet exactly what horses he’ll send out to Australia,” Comerford said.

“We normally like to target the same races, including the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup, but it would be great to look at other races as well.

“The Geelong Cup is a race which has proven to be a good race to qualify horses for the Melbourne Cup.

“You could have more success by bringing horses to Australia for races like the Geelong Cup.

“There are other races, too, where you have could have success qualifying horses for the Melbourne Cup.”

Michael Walker and Prince Of Arran combine to win the Geelong Cup.

Prince Of Arran won the Geelong Cup this season before finishing second on protest in the Melbourne Cup.

Runner-up True Self franked the form with an emphatic Queen Elizabeth Stakes triumph.

Prince Of Arran, Magic Wand and True Self are all likely to return home via the Longines International meeting in Hong Kong next month.

But Melbourne Cup third placegetter Il Paradiso will switch stables after being bought by a Melbourne consortium led by Ozzie Kheir and Johnny O’Neill.

Coolmore will retain an interest in the former O’Brien-trained galloper, who was desperately unlucky in the Melbourne Cup.

He was promoted from fourth to third at the expense of Joseph O’Brien’s Master Of Reality, who was demoted from second to fourth as Prince Of Arran moved from third to second.

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Michael Walker and Prince Of Arran after finishing the Melbourne Cup.

BLANKET BARRIER TO PRINCE IN JAPAN

Michael Walker could retain the ride on Prince Of Arran after Charlie Fellowes was forced to abandon Japan Cup ambitions with the globetrotter.

Prince Of Arran is expected to run at the Hong Kong international meeting at Sha Tin on December 8 after Fellowes scuttled Japan Cup plans because of regulations banning the use of barrier blankets.

Fellowes and Walker have struck up a productive partnership with Prince Of Arran in Australia over the past two years, scoring Hotham Handicap and Geelong Cup victories and a second and third in successive Melbourne Cups.

But Fellowes had indicated he would secure a Japan-based rider if Prince Of Arran contested the 2400m Japan Cup on November 24.

Walker rode Prince Of Arran in Hong Kong last year and could do so again if the English stayer contests the 2400m Hong Kong Vase next month.

Prince Of Arran is expected to be among several Werribee-based internationals to head to Sha Tin, but hopes of a Japan Cup tilt have been scuttled.

“Due to complications around a stalls rug Prince Of Arran wears at the start, he will not be running in the Japan Cup. Instead he heads to Hong Kong for the Vase,” Fellowes said.

“Rules state that you can’t use a barrier blanket in Japan. Sadly this is a necessary addition for the Prince and, as much as we tried, we were unable to find a way around the problem.

“No barrier blankets allowed in Japan. Sadly he is a danger to himself and other horses without one.”

Barrier blankets are used to calm horses in the gates. They are released as the runners jump.

Originally published as World’s best trainer Aidan O’Brien to target Victorian country cups next spring