O’Brien considering options for Classic pack

Oaks and Derby plans to be discussed.

Aidan O’Brien could look to Epsom with both Love and Peaceful, winners of the English and Irish 1000 Guineas respectively.

Love currently heads the ante-post market for the Investec Oaks on July 4 following her comprehensive Newmarket victory, while Peaceful is as low as 4-1 with some firms after claiming the Curragh Classic last weekend.

O’Brien initially entered Peaceful for Saturday’s Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, but ruled out a quick return with a step up in trip to either 12 furlongs for the English Oaks or 10 furlongs in the Prix de Diane on July 5 on the radar.

He said on Thursday: “We had in our minds she would stay further, so it was always possible she was going to be trained for the Oaks.

“I was speaking with the lads (owners Coolmore) this morning and the two of them could be trained for the Oaks, herself and Love, and I think the French Oaks is the following day.

“She might go to France if Love goes to Epsom, but we’ll see what happens a couple of days before declarations.”

O’Brien’s Investec Derby plans are also undecided as yet, with Russian Emperor as low as 8-1 for the race with some bookmakers following his half-length win in Wednesday’s Hampton Court Stakes at Ascot.

The trainer said: “He looks like a horse that obviously gets a mile and a quarter and might get a bit further, so we’ll see what the lads want to do.

“He’d have the choice of the Epsom Derby, the French Derby or the Irish so we’ll see how he is in a few days.”

O’Brien did suffer Derby trial disappointment with Mogul in Tuesday’s King Edward VII Stakes, with the favourite finishing only fourth behind Pyledriver.

However, O’Brien expects Mogul to improve for the outing, which was his first since he finished fourth in the Vertem Futurity Trophy at Newcastle in November.

He said: “We were struggling with him because we really wanted to get two runs into him before the Derby, obviously we didn’t have the time and that’s just the way it was.

“That’s why we came to Ascot with him – we thought a mile and a half would be a little bit tougher than a mile and a quarter at Leopardstown.

“We wanted to get a good run into him and let him get tired, so it will be interesting to see what he does between now and the Derby.

“There’s every chance he could make very good progress, but we had to run him, we had to take a chance on him getting tired because we were trying to put two runs into one run, if you know what I mean.”

Vatican City is another runner that is prominent in the ante-post betting after finishing second in the Irish 2000 Guineas and he is also in the mix, although the altered British schedule this year means the Irish Derby on June 29 comes before Epsom.

O’Brien said: “The lads haven’t decided yet, but I would imagine they’ll run plenty of horses this year in the Irish Derby and the English Derby and you might get some running in the French Derby.

“The horses that were second and third in the Guineas are under consideration as well for the Derby, so I suppose the lads will decide what they want to do in the next week and then hopefully we will have some kind of a plan.

“Obviously the Irish Derby is not the weekend coming but the following one, so it’ll all have to happen in the next couple of days.”

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