O'Brien Has Eye On Louisville With UAE Derby Trio

Should things go well in Dubai, trainer Aidan O'Brien's 3-year-olds are poised for an all-out assault on the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

And those colts have been primed to do well in the March 31 UAE Derby Sponsored By Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group (G2) at Meydan, O'Brien said on the eve of the race.

O'Brien's three UAE Derby runners train in Ireland, but all are Kentucky-bred. First among them is Mendelssohn, a half brother to multiple champion Beholder and sire Into Mischief  who topped the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale when he sold to representatives of Coolmore Stud for $3 million. The son of Scat Daddy won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) at Del Mar in his 2017 finale.

Seahenge also is by Scat Daddy, and Threeandfourpence is a son of War Front .

All three contested the March 9 32red Patton Stakes on the all-weather track at Dundalk in Ireland, with Mendelssohn leading home Threeandfourpence and Seahenge. Any of them could have pursued the European Road to the Kentucky Derby in the March 30 Burradon Stakes at Newcastle, also on the all-weather. Instead, O'Brien opted for the stiffer competition in Dubai.

"What we were trying to do is, we were trying to prepare the horses for Kentucky, and we felt to win the race, it wasn't the right thing to do for the horse" to continue in England, he said.

"We just felt Dundalk was left-handed and on the mile and a steppingstone. But if we went from there to run in a straight mile on a flat track on the Polytrack (at Newcastle), that wasn't progressing. So rather, we felt, than going there and winning that, it wasn't going to help us prepare for Kentucky.

"We just felt that if everything went well here (in Dubai), and this was a very big race in its own right, that we could go on and look at Kentucky. It's a mile and a furlong—longer than the Dundalk race—and it's on a dirt track, so obviously it would be a dream if they did run well, then Kentucky might be the next stop.

"It's a tough race, but it's what we felt (was right)."

O'Brien said he has hopes for all three in Dubai. The UAE Derby is part of the North American Churchill Downs Road to the Kentucky Derby, awarding 100 points to the winner and 40 for second. The 40 is often enough to secure a spot in the Louisville starting gate. Should he run 1-2 at Meydan, would O'Brien take a pair to the Kentucky Derby?

"Oh yeah, we would," he said, enthusiastically. "We were training the three horses hard. If more than one of them got in, we'd be delighted, really. Of course, it's obviously going to be tough to get in."

O'Brien last year saddled 28 group/grade 1 winners worldwide, shattering the record of 25 held by the late Bobby Frankel. Though he has yet to win the Kentucky Derby, he denied that's a box he would like to tick on his résumé.

"No, we don't ever do that, really," he said. "When the horse comes along, we try to make the right decisions for the horse and the races that might suit them. ... When it happens, you really can't believe it, because they are very tough races, you know."