Aidan O’Brien keeps faith with Rip Van Winkle
If Aidan O’Brien’s original belief in Rip Van Winkle had born full fruit it is doubtful that he would be running at York now.
Last season this was the colt accorded star status at a Ballydoyle yard that regards such horses as almost its base currency. He was stable jockey Johnny Murtagh’s chosen ride in both the 2000 Guineas and Derby, only to be pushed aside along with all other challengers by Sea The Stars.
Rip Van Winkle lost a third match-up with Sea The Stars, but did more to push John Oxx’s colt more than most when he was a length second in the Eclipse Stakes, and claimed the miler’s crown when he won both the Sussex and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. Good, but not quite enough to retire him and so he remained with O’Brien for another season.
O’Brien has stuck to the mantra that Rip Van Winkle is improving with each run and the form book backs that up, with an unconvincing sixth in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot behind Goldikova traded up for a neck second to Canford Cliffs in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood last month.
Now comes the acid test in the Juddmonte International Stakes, a race that O’Brien has won with both Giant’s Causeway in 2000 and Duke of Marmalade eight years later and the trainer is hoping that the upward curve of Rip Van Winkle’s season can reach a third career Group One victory that would justify that lofty reputation of the spring of last year.
“He had his first run at Ascot and just got tired in the last half a furlong. We’ve been very happy with since Ascot and we thought he would progress a nice bit from his first run to his second and from his second to his third so we’re all looking forward to the race,” O’Brien said.
“We started him later this year but everything has been good. He’d done very well over the winter and because of that he just took a little bit more time to get fit but so far everything’s been good.”
It would not take much for everything to come good for O’Brien at the Ebor meeting compared to Glorious Goodwood last month, where six losers from as many runners was given a twist of the knife by the career-ending injury to Age of Aquarius in the Goodwood Cup. However, each batch of two-year-olds brings refreshed hope for the future and Lake Ontario carries that precious resource into the Group Three Acomb Stakes, having won his last race by five lengths. “We liked him before he ran first time. He just ran very green, and he stepped up a lot from his first time out to his second time out and we think he’s progressed since Naas,” O’Brien said. “He’s a very good-moving horse and we’d hope that the ground would stay nice. If it got soft it would be a worry because he’s a great-actioned horse.”
Murtagh has elected to ride Midas Touch over Joshua Tree in the other Pattern race on the opening-day card, the Group Two Great Voltigeur Stakes, but there was never going to be any deliberation over which horse he would ride in the highlight of Friday’s races, the Group One Nunthorpe Stakes, when Starspangledbanner will once again be the yard’s standard-bearer.
The race is sponsored by O’Brien’s patrons at the Coolmore Stud and it was a late decision by them that saw the Australian-bred colt kept with O’Brien, after he added the July Cup to his victory in the Golden Jubilee Stakes, rather than make the return south of the equator to take up stallion duties.
Having proved invulnerable in two victories over six furlongs he must now show the raw speed to beat the best over five furlongs, having had the stamina to win the Caulfield Guineas in October.
“He shows a lot of speed at home and he’s brave at the end of his races as well,” O’Brien said with the enthusiasm of a fan. “He’d be happy to get a lead and he’d be happy make the running or whatever. From the first time he worked here he’s always worked well but the thing we were surprised about him was that he was able to get a mile with that kind of speed.
“He’s very sharp, always was, and he’s a horse that loves to please. He’s very quick mentally and very quick feet.”
O’Brien has never made any secret of the speed that Starspangledbanner has shown at home. Now is the chance to really let rip.
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