Puppet Master captains O'Brien's Lingfield trials team
The Ballydoyle handler fields two in the William Hill Lingfield Derby Trial Stakes, a Listed event run on a track with a sweeping left-hand turn, said to best resemble the test the colts and fillies will face at Epsom.
O'Brien has won the Derby Trial on six occasions, with Anthony Van Dyck following up at Epsom in 2019. The last horse to run at Lingfield and win the Derby was Charlie Appleby's Adayar, who was beaten by Third Realm in his trial.
Stable jockey Ryan Moore has gone for Puppet Master over the once-raced Stay True, with O'Brien highlighting the fact he has had three more outings as the deciding factor.
'Ryan has gone for Puppet Master over Stay True because he's got the more experience,' he said.
'Stay True is a lovely horse and he came out of his win at Leopardstown well. But he's still a baby and we weren't even sure if he was too babyish for this, but we're going to learn more.
'He's in good order and looked like a horse who would get a mile and a half at Leopardstown.
'Obviously with Ryan's horse we liked him a lot last year (fourth in the Royal Lodge).
'He had a good run first time back in the Ballysax (fourth to stablemate Delacroix) this year which has been boosted (by the second, Lambourn, at Chester), so he has more experience and we'll see where he's going to slot in.'
Only three have been declared in the William Hill Oaks Trial Fillies' Stakes, including O'Brien's Giselle, who is certainly bred to be winning Classics as a daughter of Frankel out of Newspaperofrecord, who was a Breeders' Cup winner.
When she made her debut in June she was sent off odds-on to beat stable companion Bedtime Story, who subsequently won at Royal Ascot by nine and a half lengths.
She won her second race and was then third in a Group Three behind another stablemate, Whirl.
'Giselle is just ready to start as she has just taken a bit of time to come to hand this spring,' said O'Brien.
'We felt she was just ready for a race and we think that the experience will do her good.
'If Ryan can get her relaxed in the race, we'll see what happens.'
Taking her on are Grant Tuer's Love Talk, winner of a valuable handicap at Goodwood last summer, and Simon and Ed Crisford's Harpsichord.
Marco Botti's Great Generation won the William Hill Chartwell Fillies' Stakes last season and returns with her sights set on the same Group Three prize when making her seasonal debut.
RACE 5 WINNER – @WilliamHill Chartwell Fillies' Stakes
🥇 Great Generation🥈 Stenton Glider🥉 Sirona
Jockey: @linusghiani99Trainer: @MarcoBotti
Owner: Scuderia Sagam Srls#LingfieldPark pic.twitter.com/fz7xndQkhZ
— Lingfield Park (@LingfieldPark) May 11, 2024
She prevailed by a neck 12 months ago when in receipt of plenty of weight as a three-year-old, and now at four she loses that allowance and is also required to carry a penalty for her prior success.
'She's wintered well, her preparation has gone to plan and this has been the plan for a while,' said Botti.
'She won this race last year but as a three-year-old she was getting weight from the four-year-olds and she also carries a penalty, so it's a slightly different story.
'I know they have been catching up with the watering, it's currently good to firm so hopefully that doesn't create a situation where it's loose on top.
'In terms of the opposition it has cut up a little bit, you have the three-year-old receiving weight but to me it looks an open race that is stronger than last year.'
That opposition includes Ralph Beckett's Cathedral, the three-year-old filly in question, with Roger Varian's Jabaara, John and Thady Gosden's Spiritual, Richard Hughes' Fair Angellica and Alice Haynes' Ziggy's Dream also entered.
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