Aidan O’Brien to leave Irish Derby running plans until the last minute
The masterful Ballydoyle trainer currently has eight of the 12 horses left in the Irish Classic, although that number is set to be trimmed for Thursday's final declarations.
AIDAN O'BRIEN will wait until just before final declaration time on Thursday morning before finalising his team for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh on Saturday.
The Ballydoyle trainer is currently responsible for eight of the 12 horses left in the Classic, with his squad headed by Investec Derby winner Wings Of Eagles.
Also in the reckoning are Epsom also-rans Capri (sixth), Douglas Macarthur (seventh), Venice Beach (12th) and The Anvil (17th).
Finn McCool, Spanish Steps and Taj Mahal are the others in the mix as O'Brien goes for a record 12th win in the Irish Derby, and plans could hinge on how much rain falls in the next 24 hours.
"We're not really sure how much rain is going to come today, tonight and tomorrow, so it's a little bit up in the air at the moment," O'Brien told At The Races.
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"I'd say we'll trim our entry back. All the Epsom horses are the ones very much at the forefront of what we are doing at the moment, but obviously we'll have to see what happens this evening and tonight before we make a decision in the morning.
"I would imagine Ryan (Moore) would ride him (Wings Of Eagles). He never decides until he sees what we are going to declare and of course Ryan rides all of our first strings usually."
Jim Bolger has lifted the Irish Derby with St Jovite (1992) and Trading Leather (2013) and hopes the ground does not go against his representative this year, Dubai Sand.
Bolger warns he would consider taking the Godolphin-owned colt out of the contest if there was too much rain,
"He galloped yesterday, and while it wasn't strenuous, he pleased me. He's in good form and wants to get on with it," the Coolcullen handler told www.godolphin.com.
"We would reconsider if the ground changed dramatically."