Group 1 winner Thunder Moon (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) will make his next start in the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas on May 1. A winner of a maiden at The Curragh in August, the bay stepped up and won the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. by 1 ½ lengths there in September. He lost his unbeaten record with a third-place finish in the G1 Darley Dewhurst S. behind St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and Wembley (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), both trained by trainer Joseph O'Brien's father Aidan.
“He's wintered very well,” O'Brien said on Nick Luck Daily on Tuesday morning. “Obviously we put him away after the Dewhurst, but I was very pleased with that run. The ground went a bit slow on us and we probably weren't drawn in the perfect position, but it was a very good run.
“The plan all winter has been to go straight to the Guineas and not have a prep. He's in good shape. His National S. win was a very good performance. It was a very messy race, but he got himself out of trouble and showed a fantastic turn of foot.
“Turn of foot and speed are probably his two attributes, he'd love a bit of firm ground as he's a strong traveller with a turn of foot, which he showed a couple of times last season. It would be pretty important to us that the ground is good or better.”
“I don't know if he's classier [than the two who beat him in the Dewhurst], but I probably feel that we are the quickest horse,” O'Brien added.
“We travelled very well through the Dewhurst and looked the winner, but on the day there was a severe bias to the rail, we were drawn on the other side and also the ground was on the slow side so I thought it was a fantastic run.
“When we broke down the race afterwards we were very proud of his run, we're looking forward to taking them on again on what we hope will be quicker going.
“His pedigree suggests he'll stay further, I'm quite confident about the mile but after that I'm not sure how much further he'd go as he's quite a pacey horse.
“I'd say Declan McDonagh is most likely to ride at Newmarket and we'll go from there, but it hasn't really been discussed yet. I'd imagine it will be Declan as he has a good relationship with him.”
O'Brien's G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas hopeful Pretty Gorgeous (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}), a winner of the G1 bet365 Fillies' Mile, is also in good form. Like her yardmate, she will also not have a prep prior to her run in the fillies' Classic.
“She's in good shape too, I'm pleased with how she's wintered,” O'Brien said. “She's a big, powerful mare and the plan is to go straight there,” he said.
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