There have been more misses than hits for Aidan O’Brien over the last 10 days of Derby trials and his pursuit of a fourth consecutive winner of the Epsom Classic suffered another setback on Sunday as Highland Reel could finish only sixth behind the impressive winner Make Believe in the Prix d’Essai des Poulains (French 2,000 Guineas) at Longchamp.
Highland Reel was running for the first time since winning the Group Two Vintage Stakes at Goodwood last July, but made a good start from stall seven as Make Believe set off to make the running under Olivier Peslier.
Make Believe quickened clear of his field inside the final quarter-mile while Highland Reel struggled to find any response, and it was New Bay, a stablemate of the winner at André Fabre’s yard in Chantilly, who made up many lengths in the last two furlongs to finish second, having turned for home with only one of his 17 rivals behind him.
“We were drawn very well, which helped in that situation,” Ted Voute, racing manager for Make Believe’s owner, Prince Faisal, said, “and the second horse ran a tremendous race from where he was drawn [in stall 16]. I would suspect that the Prince and André will sit down and discuss probably going to Royal Ascot [for the St James’s Palace Stakes].”
Highland Reel was as short as 8-1 for the Derby before Sunday’s race, but is now out to a top price of 25-1.
O’Brien was forced to withdraw Order Of St George from the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial at Leopardstown on Sunday after the colt was scoped poorly a few hours before the race. There was a glimmer of encouragement for the trainer after the race, however, as the easy winner Success Days franked the form of the Ballysax Stakes last month, in which O’Brien’s highly regarded colt John F Kennedy finished a distant third.
John F Kennedy was an absentee from the Leopardstown race because of the soft ground and is now expected to go on trial for the Derby in the Dante Stakes at York on Thursday. Success Days, meanwhile, will be aimed towards the Irish Derby in late June but could yet be supplemented for Epsom if the ground is likely to be soft.
“He’s very relaxed and has the temperament to keep improving,” Ken Condon, the winner’s trainer, said. “He’s very relaxed and has the temperament to keep improving. He obviously needs to but he keeps delivering.
“The Irish Derby is on the agenda. We’ll see how the Dante works out and, if it came up soft, we would have to give serious consideration to supplementing him for Epsom.”
O’Brien took the Derrinstown Stud 1,000 Guineas Trial when Kissed By Angels quickened impressively at the top of the straight on the way to a three-and-a-half-length win. The daughter of Galileo, whose dam Lillie Langtry won the Coronation Stakes, is a general 14-1 chance for the Oaks at Epsom next month.
Jean-Claude Rouget saddled the winner of the Prix d’Essai des Pouliches (the French 1,000 Guineas) for the second year running as Ervedya, the favourite, finished fast to beat Martyn Meade’s Irish Rookie, a 63-1 outsider. The winner is expected to run next in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.
