Irish Derby

[horses4courses]

Australia , trained by Aidan O'Brien, has scared away the opposition.

A short field of seven runners is now down to five.
I can't ever recall a field so short for this $1.7 million purse.

Still, this horse is pretty special, and well worth watching.
Race posts at 1230pm ET at The Curragh.

[Seabiscuit@AR]

A field of 5 is standard practice for G1s over there isn't it? Irish Derby in 2012 had 5 runners when it was won by Camelot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzOW91K4Pn8

[Seabiscuit@AR]

Looking at the last 5 years or so of the Irish Derby average field size looks to be 7 or 8 runners

Don't buy into the Australia hype though. Every year Coolmore proclaim their leading horse to be their "best ever" and as they control a lot of the leading horses over there they can ensure their better horses never race each other so their best horse is never fully tested

[OTM Al]

Looking at the last 5 years or so of the Irish Derby average field size looks to be 7 or 8 runners

Don't buy into the Australia hype though. Every year Coolmore proclaim their leading horse to be their "best ever" and as they control a lot of the leading horses over there they can ensure their better horses never race each other so their best horse is never fully tested

3rd in the Guineas and winner of the Derby. That isn't hype, that is results. Absolutely regally bred on top of that. He likely isn't the best ever but he is very good.

[horses4courses]

Looking at the last 5 years or so of the Irish Derby average field size looks to be 7 or 8 runners

Don't buy into the Australia hype though. Every year Coolmore proclaim their leading horse to be their "best ever" and as they control a lot of the leading horses over there they can ensure their better horses never race each other so their best horse is never fully tested

It comes down to whether you believe what Aidan O'Brien is saying,
or you think he is giving us a "used car salesman" snow job.
"Best ever" has been heard before - it is not used every year.
Far from it.

He was very high on this horse from last summer long before he ran.
There have been many good horses coming through Ballydoyle
over the years, and plenty of superlatives thrown about,
but his opinion of Australia surpasses all before him.
Interesting to see how it turns out.

[Some_One]

OBrien is a lot like Pletcher, great at finding the weak spots with his horses, but when they can't hide and run them in the BC or Arc, in this case, they are exposed for being just ordinary.

[horses4courses]

OBrien is a lot like Pletcher, great at finding the weak spots with his horses, but when they can't hide and run them in the BC or Arc, in this case, they are exposed for being just ordinary.

There is, also, a question mark about Australia handling soft ground.
That's a big minus thinking about the Arc.

[Some_One]

Well the other options would be BC/Japan Cup/HK Cup. Almost a cert to be all on super fast ground, but not great for the stud value.

[mutualwagerer]

I gotta disagree I think this horse is the real deal, his breeding is absolutely top notch, not to mention OBrien is the best European trainer. Plus he has the results to back it up, I cant wait to see this colt in the future. I watched the race he hand road him didn't even hit him once, which is crazy.

Quote from the article at http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/85902/australia-easy-irish-derby-victor

"It was an armchair ride. I just had to make sure I didn't fall off," said jockey O'Brien told the BBC after his ride aboard Australia, his fifth in an Irish classic. :lol:

[biggestal99]

Well the other options would be BC/Japan Cup/HK Cup. Almost a cert to be all on super fast ground, but not great for the stud value.

I don't think there will be a problem with stud value. He's regally bred and he's fast. figure £50-100K a pop to start. prolly won't make it to next year racing wise. too valuable an animal.

Allan

[classhandicapper]

We had this discussion during the Zenyatta/Rachel era. One of the downsides of truly great horses is that they can sometimes scare the competition away. No one that has a very good horse wants to run for second when there may be softer spots they can win and make more money. So you sometimes wind up with small fields and 2nd stringers running for a piece of the check. That doesn't diminish the winner as long as they take care of business when someone does show up.

Even Untapable's race was kind of light compared to the Acorn. There had to have been a few trainers that looked at the race and wanted no part of Untapable after her KY Oaks. So they changed plans.

[horses4courses]

O'Brien is tearing it up at the Curragh today.

Has won the first 4 races, including 12-1 and 5-1 winners. :eek:

[OTM Al]

O'Brien is tearing it up at the Curragh today.

Has won the first 4 races, including 12-1 and 5-1 winners. :eek:

Don't see that much there as he tends to be near favorite in most races. Kinda like when you see a Pletcher 2yo going at prices like that at Saratoga.