Carl O’Callaghan says Kinsale King is ready for July Cup
Perhaps the only act that could have upstaged Starspangledbanner’s stunning performance to win the Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot last Saturday would have been the post-race celebrations of Carl O’Callaghan.
The much-documented early days of O’Callaghan, which took in a spell sleeping rough as a teenager in New York, have not robbed the Irishman of his sense of fun. That much was evidenced by his manic celebrations after Kinsale King had won the Grade One Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan in March.
The trainer has confirmed that Kinsale King will remain in Britain for a tilt at the Darley July Cup at Newmarket, the third British leg of the Global Sprint Challenge, on July 9th, and is not daunted by the prospect of a return match with Starspangledbanner.
Based in California, O’Callaghan started with just five horses about a year ago and is now close to 50, including Kinsale King, a horse whose career was in terminal decline because of hoof injuries that had thwarted the best efforts of two other trainers. O’Callaghan decided to switch the horse to turf in an attempt to protect his fragile hooves and found himself with a world-class sprinter, winning four races in succession, culminating with a victory in the Golden Shaheen on Dubai World Cup night that was a cue for manic revelry from the trainer which he described as his “Irish river dance”.
O’Callaghan is now hoping that the stiff six furlongs of the July Course will suit Kinsale King when he steps out against Starspangledbanner having been beaten two lengths at Ascot. “For us, coming third at Ascot was like winning,” O’Callgahna said. “My horse showed up on the day and that’s all I can ask.
“I think next time we’ll see a better performance. I’m a bit concerned running him back so quick but he’s bounced out of the race and is in great shape. He’s been playing in the paddock and having a grand time.
“I wouldn’t stay if I didn’t think he had a chance of winning. After Ascot we did all the scopes and x-rays you can do and they were spotless. This time we won’t let Starspangledbanner go. I want to sit closer to him perhaps only a length behind as my horse can kick but also keep going.”
Starspangledbanner’s victory helped to kick-start Aidan O’Brien’s season, which was threatening to stall in mid-summer but, even though he appears to be holding most of the aces, there appears to be mixed messages over his best chance for the Dubai Irish Derby at the Curragh on Sunday.
O’Brien has a strong hand as he bids to win the race for an eighth time – including a one-to-three in 2002 - and a fifth time in succession at the Curragh on Sunday. Ballydoyle could be represented by Jan Vermeer, the beaten favourite in the Derby at Epsom three weeks ago, as well as At First Sight, Bright Horizon, Cape Blanco and Midas Touch.
However, there is uncertainty over which colt stable jockey Johnny Murtagh will decide to ride, with Jan Vermeer drifting in the market in favour of Cape Blanco, who won the Dante Stakes but then finished down the field in the Prix Du Jockey Club. “Johnny hasn't made up his mind which horse he's going to ride yet and I suppose that's why the markets are the way they are,” O'Brien said in an interview with At The Races.
“We give Johnny as much time as he wants to make up his mind as he wants to be on the one that has the best chance. There are a lot of factors he's got to work out in his mind and obviously we both talk about it.
“He has to try and work out whether Jan Vermeer has improved enough since Epsom and why Cape Blanco was disappointing in France and whether he can leave that run way behind him. In Epsom you could say the pacemaker got away and Jan Vermeer was a little bit on and off the bridle.
"It might have been greenness and it might have been the race fitness. Cape Blanco ran a listless race really in France, so there are a lot of things to factor into his decision. It's very possible we will run all five horses.”
One jockey booking that appears to have been concluded is that of Frankie Dettori. The Italian could have been claimed to ride Chabal for Godolphin but now seems free to maintain his successful partnership with Monterosso.
The colt, who was registering his fifth win from seven starts this year when he won the Group Two King Edward VII Stakes at the royal meeting on Friday , runs in the colours of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed al Maktoum, the son of Sheikh Mohammed, and the Dubawi colt was supplemented for the Irish Classic at a cost of €150,000.
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