Sport

Murtagh opts to stick with Age Of Aquarius

RACING NEWS : THE JUDDMONTE Grand Prix de Paris, a race many believe is now the ‘real’ French Derby, will be the Bastille Day…

BRIAN O'CONNOR Racing Correspondent
Tue Jul 14 2009 - 01:00

RACING NEWS: THE JUDDMONTE Grand Prix de Paris, a race many believe is now the 'real' French Derby, will be the Bastille Day highlight at Longchamp this evening and Aidan O'Brien will be hoping for a second victory in the €600,000 Group One.

It is four years since Scorpion landed the mile and a half prize for the champion trainer but O’Brien has half the eight-strong field in today’s race which is scheduled to start at 7.20 (Irish time) this evening. Age Of Aquarius, seventh in the Epsom Derby, is Johnny Murtagh’s pick from the Ballydoyle quartet and that leaves Colm O’Donoghue to again ride the Dante winner Black Bear Island.

Séamus Heffernan teams up with the Dante runner-up Freemantle while Sean Levey is on Friday night’s Gowran winner Hail Caesar.

The main home hope is the Aga Khan’s Beheshtam who ran fourth in the Prix Du Jockey Club last month, after which his jockey Christophe Soumillon hit out at the reduction in trip of the French Derby from a mile and a half.

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The colt is back to 12 furlongs now although his trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre said yesterday:

“The going is going to be good to firm and it could be a little too firm for him. If it is too firm we will decide whether or not to run when we get there.”

In contrast the prospect of fast ground was welcomed by O’Brien yesterday. “We would certainly prefer it to be faster than slower. This race has always been the plan for Age Of Aquarius and Johnny has stuck with him,” he said.

“It’s just my opinion but I think a lot of people believe a proper mile and a half race is what the French Derby should be.”

The Grand Prix de Paris has yielded mixed results for O’Brien in the past. As well as Scorpion he also sent the double-Derby runner-up Eagle Mountain for the 2007 renewal and Kieren Fallon was injured when unseated in the early stages.

Also involved this evening will be Godolphin’s Italian Derby winner Mastery who has been supplemented into the race.

O’Brien is certainly keeping his high-class pacemaker Red Rock Canyon busy and just two days after running third to Famous Name in a Curragh Group Three – and just over a week after finally losing his maiden tag at Roscommon – he tackles three others in a 14-furlong conditions race at Killarney this evening.

The prospect of testing ground and the trip might not be ideal but Joseph O’Brien’s 7lb claim will be invaluable against Universal Truth who certainly won’t relish the conditions.

The opening four-runner handicap also looks good for the O’Brien family now that Francisco Goya has shown more concrete signs of ability having lost his own maiden status at Naas.

Real Overdrive has a low weight and proven winning form on heavy ground which gives him a decent shout in the handicap chase while Ruby Walsh should have a good afternoon at Downpatrick including with Coastal Command in the handicap hurdle.