17 Entered In Lingfield Trial; Mum Is The Word At Ballydoyle
April 2, 2002
By, Alastair Donald
International Racing Bureau

A total of 17 horses have been entered for the Fosters'- International Trial Stakes to be run over a mile on Lingfield's Polytrack surface on Apr. 6, including seven from the Ballydoyle stable of Aidan O'Brien. In addition to Johannesburg, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (GI) winner of 2001 and Kentucky Derby (GI) aspirant, O'Brien has also entered the Group I winners Hawk Wing, Rock of Gibraltar and Sholokhov; the useful Castle Gandolfo, Creekview and Stonemason complete the septet for a race O'Brien looks poised to dominate.

On Mon., Apr. 1, O'Brien was keeping running plans for the seven undisclosed, saying that no decisions had been taken, and that probably none would until Thurs. (Apr. 4) evening. "Johannesburg is a possible, but it's up in the air," O'Brien said. "They are all posssible for the trial, and we haven't decided the way things are going yet. It depends on the weather we are going to get here in Ireland, how much rain we get, and how much the ground dries out. Obviously, Lingfield is a great option if the ground is very bad here in Ireland."

Of Johannesburg's well-being O'Brien added, "We are taking it day-by-day, but so far so good. He is going nicely, and we are happy with him."

All seven of O'Brien's Lingfield entries also hold entries in the Gladness Stakes, a Group III race run over seven furlongs on turf at the Curragh in Ireland on Sun., Apr. 7, the day after the Lingfield trial.

The Gladness Stakes, which is for three-year-olds and up, has attracted a total of 48 entries, of which a staggering 23 are trained by Aidan O'Brien, a statistic that underlines the strength in depth of the O'Brien stable, and the embarrassment of riches that he has in the three-year-old division, with 20 of his 23 entries in the Gladness Stakes being three year olds.

With the European season more slowly into its stride than that of its U.S. counterpart, O'Brien's strangle-hold on the entry box may also say something about the lack of early season opportunities for classic contenders that there are at this stage on the European racing calendar.

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