Tough Start for O'Brien's First Starter at Spa Meet

Joseph O'Brien's summer at Saratoga Race Course got off to a rocky start July 22.

Based in Ireland, O'Brien's Alexis Zorba  was slow out of the gate in the first race, a 5 1/2-furlong test on the Mellon Turf course. The 6-5 favorite, under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, rallied to finish fourth but was never a threat.

"Johnny said she misbehaved in the gate," the 29-year-old O'Brien said.

O'Brien is the son of world renowned Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien. Alexis Zorba, a 2-year-old son of Zoustar , was making his third career start.

"It seems like he wants to go a little further," O'Brien said.

O'Brien said he will leave Saratoga and head back to Ireland July 23. He said he will be back for the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale on Aug. 8-9.

O'Brien was here last summer to saddle State of Rest  to victory in the $1 million Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) and Messidor  to a seventh-place finish in the $700,000 Saratoga Oaks Invitational Stakes (G3T).

This is the first time O'Brien will have horses stabled at Saratoga for an extended period of time. He has been allotted six stalls by the New York Racing Association. Reckoning Force, a 2-year-old colt by Air Force Blue , will run in the first race July 23, a 1 1/16-mile event on the inner turf.

"There is good prize money," O'Brien said about having horses at the Spa. "We are hoping we will have some horses that will compete here."

O'Brien is a former champion jockey in Europe who won the 2011 Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) with St Nicholas Abbey  for his father.

After the first race July 22, O'Brien stood outside the winner's circle and gushed about Saratoga. He has been at majestic racetracks in Europe and was not about to start comparing them to Saratoga.

"I don't think I need to make a case for Saratoga," O'Brien said. "You see the support this meeting gets all over the world. Every racetrack in Europe and America has their own identity. We're just happy to be here."