Ballydoyle pair face acid test in Dante Aidan O'Brien has endured mixed fortunes with his Classic hopes so far this year and John F Kennedy and Ol' Man River are both on retrieval missions in the Betfred Dante Stakes at York on Thursday. The colts flopped in the Ballysax Stakes and Qipco 2000 Guineas respectively, but t he drying ground on the Knavesmire is expected to bring out much better performances from the pair, who were Group-race winners as two-year-olds. O'Brien said: "They are both coming into it off disappointing runs. "John F Kennedy disappointed at Leopardstown, but it was a while ago and the ground was heavy. Hopefully he can leave that run behind. "Ol' Man River disappointed in the Guineas, but maybe he wasn't ready mentally and it was probably the wrong thing to run him. "A mile and a quarter on nice ground - we'll learn a lot more about him. Joseph (O'Brien) knew it was his first run of the season and wasn't going to give him a hard time. Hopefully he'll run well."
