O'Brien dominates entries for Classic trials Aidan O'Brien is keeping his options open at Leopardstown on Sunday by having lots of entries in three Classic trials on the card. The champion trainer will be shuffling his pack as he is responsible for nine of the 17 entries for the P.W. McGrath Memorial Ballysax Stakes. Of those, four are also in the Leopardstown 2,000 Guineas Trial. They are: Black Sea, Johannes Vermeer, Lieutenant General and Shogun. Johannes Vermeer is the highest profile of those, having finished second in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster being winding up his juvenile campaign with victory in the Group One Criterium de Saint-Cloud. O'Brien's other five in the Ballysax are A Year To Remember, Beacon Rock, Cook Islands, Deauville and Idaho. The Ballydoyle handler has five in the 2,000 Guineas Trial from a total of 12. His other one is General Macarthur, whose dam is Imagine, winner of the Irish 1,000 Guineas and the Epsom Oaks in 2001. Alice Springs, runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, is one of three O'Brien possibles for the Leopardstown 1,000 Guineas Trial Stakes. Californiadreaming and How High The Moon complete his trio. Potential rivals include Jim Bolger's duo of Ceol An Ghra and Queen Sicily, and Kevin Prendergast's facile Naas maiden winner Cool Thunder.
