Champion Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien is keeping his options open for Bach and Black Minnaloushe, who finished third and fifth respectively in Saturday's extraordinary Coral Eclipse Eurobet Stakes at Sandown. Godolphin's pacemaker Broche went off at furious clip and Black Minnaloushe, stepping up to 10 furlongs for the first time in his career following victories in the Irish 2000 Guineas and St James's Palace Stakes, was held up way off the pace before finishing to good effect.
Bach rewarded each-way backers with a tremendous run to finish just three-quarters of a length behind winner Medicean and O'Brien admitted: "Every run Bach has had he's come forward this season and we're delighted with him."
The Ballydoyle maestro also feels Black Minnaloushe got the extra two furlongs well. It was a strange race but we learned a lot yesterday. "He gets the trip well and we can go anywhere from a mile to 10 furlongs with him. He was short of room when he was delivering his final challenge which didn't help. We'd certainly look at the Sussex Stakes for the two of them, but King Charlemagne and Bonnard, who run at the weekend, could also come into the reckoning."
Looking ahead to Thursday's £230,000 Darley July Cup at Newmarket, the Irish trainer could well have more than one runner in the six-furlong event, with the stable's Jersey Stakes winner, Mozart, the 3-1 favourite with Ladbrokes. Ishiguru and Freud are also described as strong possibilities although the participation of Minardi has yet to be decided. O'Brien continued: " We'll probably wait a little longer with him. We'll give him a bit of work in the morning and see how he's going, he's had a couple of hard races at a mile."
Meanwhile, O'Brien's dual Classic heroine Imagine, who met with a slight setback during the week, is still a possible runner in the Kildangan Stud Irish Oaks at the Curragh on Sunday. O'Brien confirmed: "Imagine is fine again and she has been cantering. But we missed four days and we will see how that has affected her fitness. We won't take any chances with her. We'll have a discussion after she does a bit in the morning."
Filed by Shane Murray
