O'Brien is charged over refusal to trot
AIDAN O’Brien’s opinion is questionable after the dismal efforts from his runners in both the English and French Derby and now his behaviour has come under scrutiny from the authorities.
O’Brien’s fancied runners were upstaged in the Derby by their 100-1 pacemaker
At First Sight who finished second to Workforce. Yesterday, O ’ B r i e n was charged by the British H o r s e r a c i n g Authority following Cape Blanco’s victory in the Dante Stakes at York last month when he finished sore.
The Irishman refused to allow his headman Pat Keating permission to trot the horse up in front of the BHA’s vet.
At the time O’Brien said: “It’s the most insane thing
I’ve ever heard. Why would you want to trot him again on a bruised heel and cause him more pain?” No date
has been fixed for the hearing.
Cape Blanco, the only horse to have beaten, Workforce, ran a stinker in Sunday’s French Derby.
Running plans for Workforce, the fastest ever Derby winner, revolve around the Irish Derby and the King
George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Teddy Grimthorpe, the racing manager for the colt’s owner, Khalid Abdullah, said: “The Irish Derby is the first race to consider.
“If you break the track record there’s no way you can’t have had a hard race, so we’ll have to see how he is.”
Michael Jarvis may have been out of luck in the Classics at the weekend but is expecting success at Royal Ascot
next week. Jarvis plans to run Alainmaar, Elzaam and Rainbow Peak.