Horse racing trainer Aiden O’Brien
described his horse Australia as “the best we’ve ever had”,
which is a very lofty statement when you consider that he has also
trained L’Arc and Ascot winner Dylan Thomas and Epsom Derby and
2000 Guineas winner Camelot. So, just how big a season is Australia
going to have this year?
By all accounts it is going to be a
massive year. The
horse is the 9/4 favourite with Paddy Power for the 2000 Guineas
and 5/2 favourite with the Irish bookmaker to reign supreme in the
Epsom Derby. In less than 12 months’ time this horse could already
have reached legendary status.
We caught a glimpse of the horse in
Curragh where the colt was part of the Ballydoyle stables training
session at the Curragh post-race. As a juvenile, the horse won two of
its three starts, the highlight being a six-length victory in a
Leapardstown group.
Curragh gave us a glimpse of Australia
and that is all we will have until the Guineas; O’Brien does not
want to run the horse before Newmarket, as they do not want to race
him on bad ground. The horse is “a beautiful mover” and they
won’t want to risk injury on poor ground.
The hype surrounding the horse is huge and with O’Brien’s comment this hype has been increased tenfold. For the Ballydoyle trainer to speak so glowingly about Australia then you have to take note. He’s trained dominant horses before and if he believes that Australia has the talent then Australia has the talent.
Of course nothing is set in stone in
horse racing and many horses often fail to live up to expectations,
but the gut feeling in the racing world is that this horse is going
to make it.
Although speculative, from the
murmurings at the moment it seems that Australia
is going to have a massive year in front of him and as long as the
ground isn’t too soft the horse should dominate both the Guineas
and the Derby.