O'Brien Prepares Triple Threat for Patton Stakes

Ballydoyle trainer Aidan O'Brien is triple-handed in his bid to extend his excellent record in the Feb. 28 Woodford Reserve Patton Stakes for 3-year-olds going one mile on the all-weather surface at Dundalk, where European Road to the Kentucky Derby qualification points are up for grabs.

Points will be awarded on a 20-8-4-2 scale to the top four finishers. Kameko and Innisfree are tied for the top spot with 14 points each on the European leaderboard, which is separate from both the Japanese and main leaderboards that will determine the 20 starters for this year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) at Churchill Downs.

O'Brien was narrowly denied a fourth consecutive win in the race when Western Australia was touched off by Playa Del Puente in last year's rescheduled running.

However, 2018 winner Mendelssohn  flew the Coolmore flag with distinction, producing an incredible performance in the UAE Derby Sponsored By Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group (G2) after winning the Patton and before subsequently being eased while trailing the field in the Kentucky Derby in arduous conditions.

Interestingly, O'Brien's trio of representatives this time around are all Triple Crown-nominated Kentucky-breds sired by War Front  who won their maidens in Britain last season, with two of those victories coming on all-weather tracks.

"Our three horses are having their first starts of the year, so it'll be good to get a run under their belts. We'll see how they get on here before making any plans, but you'd hope they could be horses to travel with," O'Brien explained. "King of Athens won nicely on his final start last year at Lingfield when Seamus (Heffernan) rode him, and he rides him again.

"Battle of Liege is another nice horse who won well under Donnacha (O'Brien) at Chelmsford on his last start. We think the trip will suit him. New World Tapestry won his maiden over seven furlongs at Newmarket before running in a group 1 at Newcastle. We think he'll enjoy the trip as well."

Joseph O'Brien is also well represented in the €75,000 prize. He saddles promising 3-year-olds Choice of Mine, who is also Triple Crown-nominated and marked himself as a smart prospect winning at Dundalk in December, and Crossfirehurricane, a Kentucky-bred son of Kitten's Joy  who is 2-for-2 after defying a layoff to win well at Dundalk three weeks ago.

"They both seem in good form and have won over the course before, which is a positive, but this is obviously a step up in class, so we'll see how it goes," he said of his duo.

Tony Mullins also has a live chance in the shape of Howling Wolf, a winner of a Leopardstown maiden in July before running below par when trailing the field behind Mogul in a group 2 for juveniles on Longines Irish Champions Weekend.

"He's fit and ready to go," Mullins said of the well-regarded Footstepsinthesand colt. "He's had a little bit of surgery since his last run, and we think that he's back to his best. He came to hand quickly after we brought him back. We think he's a black-type horse, and if he's good enough, we'll be happy to travel with him. We'll see where we stand after Friday night, but we think he has the ability anyway."

Mick Halford enjoyed success in this contest 12 months ago and sends useful maiden Orchid Gardens into battle, and Jessica Harrington's In the Present is another stepping up in class after producing a dominant display to get off the mark at the track in December.

The Patton is the fifth race in the European Road to the Kentucky Derby series, which will continue with two remaining stakes: the March 4 Road to the Kentucky Derby Condition Stakes at Kempton and the April 2 Cardinal Condition Stakes at Chelmsford City.