‘John can whinge a little bit after races’ – Aidan O’Brien can’t wait to take on Ombudsman and Gosden camp in fiery-looking Champion Stakes
Aidan O’Brien is ready to ignite the rivalry between the Delacroix and Ombudsman camps for one final time in a blockbuster Qipco Champion Stakes (4.05) at Ascot on Saturday.
The score stands at one win apiece after Delacroix landed the Coral-Eclipse before Ombudsman levelled things up in York’s dramatic Juddmonte International.
The rivalry has been stoked by comments from both sets of trainers after O’Brien implored the Gosdens to bring Ombudsman over for the Irish Champion Stakes, only for John Gosden to say his star “would not appreciate running against multiple entries from one stable on a track with a short straight” and elected to miss Leopardstown.
A decisive battle is now set for Saturday, after which Delacroix is set to be retired.
O’Brien said: “John can whinge a little bit after races, whether he wins or loses, but it’s always good sport, and I only say it light-heartedly. We treat every single horse with the utmost respect and that’ll never change.
“We’re 100 per cent delighted about taking on Ombudsman again. We had our eye on this until the lads decided to go or not, but it’s been a long time since we had good ground for this meeting. Everybody wants to see the best horses taking on each other all the time. Win, lose or draw, racing wants to know where the best horses rank.”
Delacroix has three and a half lengths to find on Ombudsman from their York clash, in which the latter’s pacemaker Birr Castle built up a big lead before being reeled in late.
Delacroix: Irish Champion Stakes winnerCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)
Ombudsman’s pacemaker this time is Devil’s Advocate, and while Mount Kilimanjaro could fulfil that role for O’Brien, the champion trainer hopes history will not repeat itself at Ascot.
“York was, I suppose, a bit of a farce,” O’Brien told a British Champions Day press call organised by Ascot. “You wouldn’t see those types of races in small conditions contests, let alone a Group 1. But an incredible race is on now.
“All pacemakers can do is do their job, and it’s up to everyone else to follow them. No-one ever wants what happened at York to happen again and hopefully it’s a normal, properly run race.”
O’Brien is seven wins shy of beating his world record of 28 Group or Grade 1 victories in a year. He is represented in four of British Champions Day’s five Group 1 contests, but refuses to get drawn into the possibly of eclipsing his record.
He said: “We don’t ever think too much about it. I cannot tell you how difficult it is to win Group 1s, so when it does happen, we’re always delighted. We treat the season like that from start to finish.
“Obviously, we set off to win all of the Group 1 targets, but you’re also beat in an awful lot of them. We don’t dwell on losing too much and the minute the last one is finished, we’re already thinking about our next one.”
Qipco Champion Stakes (4.05 Ascot Saturday)
bet365: 2 Ombudsman, 11-4 Calandagan, Delacroix, 11 Economics, 14 Almaqam, 18 Almeric, 22 First Look, Fox Legacy, 100 bar.
Read more on Qipco British Champions Day:
Confirmed runners and riders for the five Group 1 races on British Champions Day
‘I relapsed, I paid the price but it motivated me’ – champion jockey Oisin Murphy reflects on a turbulent season
Four key takeouts as the final fields for Qipco British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday are revealed
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