Tony Bourke writing in "The Age' on October 24th
AIDAN O'Brien, the Irish maestro of horse racing, yesterday outlined the game plan for his three-horse team in the Melbourne Cup at Flemington on November 4.
Speaking by phone to TVN's Bruce Clark from Santa Anita in California, where he is preparing runners for the Breeders' Cup meeting tomorrow and Sunday, Melbourne time, O'Brien said his horses would ensure the Cup was truly run.
"All three horses get the trip and we won't be afraid to let them gallop," he said, adding that the stable had learned from two previous attempts on the Melbourne Cup.
He said the pace tended to go out of the race after the horses left the straight, while his horses were better suited if the pace was "consistent and strong throughout the whole race. We hope to make it a true test".
On the merits of his three runners this year, O'Brien said he was not too worried about Septimus having to carry topweight of 58.5 kilograms.
"Yes, he obviously has a big weight, but he's a good horse," he said.
O'Brien said Septimus had been brought back to racing later this preparation to have him in top form for the Irish St Leger, which he won last month, "with one eye on the Melbourne Cup".
He was also enthusiastic about Honolulu, last-start winner of the Doncaster Cup on September 12. "We stepped him up in distance and he won very easily," O'Brien said. "We think the Melbourne Cup will suit him because he's a strong galloper on fast tracks."
He said the four-year-old Alessandro Volta also liked fast tracks and rated him a better prospect than stablemate Mahler, who, at the same age, finished third in the Cup last year.
O'Brien did not come to Melbourne when Yeats ran in the 2006 Melbourne Cup, finishing seventh behind Delta Blues. His first visit was last year and he thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
This year he is bringing his wife and children because they will "never really understand the Melbourne Cup until they come and see it".
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Posted by: joseph | 09/20/2009 at 01:16 AM