Aidan O’Brien’s record 10 winners of the Betfred 2,000 Guineas all made their seasonal debuts in the race, but Albert Einstein is going about trying to join that exclusive list in a very different way.
A fortnight out from Newmarket the colt acclaimed by O’Brien as the fastest he’s ever trained has a second start of the campaign in Newbury’s Watership Down Greenham Stakes on Saturday.
The Group Three contest famously set up Frankel for Guineas glory in 2011 and has been won by other evocative names such as Mill Reef in 1971.
Having failed to come anywhere close to his billing when sixth in last month’s Gladness Stakes at the Curragh and done little to banish suspicions he’s ultimately going to be a sprinter, Albert Einstein has nevertheless been given another shot by O’Brien at proving his Guineas credentials.
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If it smacks of a scramble, such a deviation from the norm underlines the esteem in which O’Brien still holds the horse, or perhaps the lack of convincing backup horses to contest the hugely prestigious Guineas in a couple of weeks.
Comparison might require going back to another Ballydoyle era in 1980. Vincent O’Brien’s champion two-year-old Monteverdi was beaten on his first start of the season at the Phoenix Park and got sent to the Greenham to redeem his reputation. He could only finish runner-up to Final Straw and it was the nearest he ever got to winning another race.
To try to help him settle, Albert Einstein will be equipped with a hood, and fast ground conditions will certainly be much more suitable than March muck at the Curragh.
Up against him will be a proper Group One yardstick in last year’s National Stakes winner Zavateri. One of the notable feelgood stories of last season, Eve Johnson Houghton’s star only lost his unbeaten record in the Dewhurst when possibly feeling the effects of a tough campaign.
“I don’t think he’s grown a huge amount, but he’s done really well physically. He’s put on weight, put on muscle and I’m really thrilled with him, he looks like a three-year-old and not a two-year-old now. It’s a trial for a reason. He is going to improve hugely fitness-wise,” the trainer said.
“We finished in front of Oxagon [in the Dewhurst] and he won the Craven [on Thursday] so his form is pretty rock-solid,” she added.
The Coolmore partnership has another shot at the prize with Title Roll, hard fit from a winter campaign at Meydan where he landed the Jumeirah 2,000 Guineas. The highly-rated Talk Of New York was behind him on that occasion in third.
Albert Einstein is still no better than 10/1 for the Guineas and while his dual-Group One winning stable companion Puerto Rico is shorter in most lists, a transformed performance on Saturday is likely to send the strapping colt back to the forefront of O’Brien’s hopes for an 11th Guineas.
There’s plenty riding on such a transformation. But it’s foolish to ignore the fact that when Ireland’s champion trainer nails his colours to a horse, it often pays off.
Both Auguste Rodin and City Of Troy were dismissed as busted flushes after blowing out in the Guineas, only to subsequently make such presumptions look ridiculous. Now the job is to get Albert Einstein to Newmarket.
O’Brien and Ryan Moore will switch their attention on Sunday to the Curragh, where another former exciting juvenile talent makes his return to action.
In Twain’s case he hasn’t been seen since winning the 2024 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud. That came only eight days after his winning debut, and he was a prime classic candidate until setbacks wiped out his classic campaign.
Twain finally makes his comeback in the Group Three Alleged Stakes and any market support could be significant. The cross-channel raider Royal Rhyme has a history for running well first time out and will be a major test of the how much top-flight ability Twain retains.
O’Brien’s two-year-olds have wasted little time getting into gear so far this campaign and another couple of them could prove the point on Sunday. Carry The Flag and Great Barrier Reef make their debuts. The latter is a brother to the precocious Mystery Power, who won the Superlative Stakes.
