Futurity Trophy: Aidan O’Brien aims for a 12th Title Aidan O’Brien provides half of the field in the Futurity Trophy at Doncaster on Saturday. Irish trainers have a good record in Doncaster’s Futurity Trophy in recent years, winning six of the last 10 renewals, and that trend looks set to continue this year. Aidan O’Brien’s three runners make up half of the six-runner field and he trains the first two in the market. We’re going to take a close look at all three of his runners and assess their chances of providing the master of Ballydoyle with a 12th win in the race. Subsequent Derby victor Auguste Rodin was his last winner and O’Brien’s well set to get the job done once again. Benvenuto Cellini This horse looks like a proper middle-distance type for next season and he showed plenty when finishing second to stablemate Dorset over an inadequate 7f trip at the Curragh on debut. The winner has since gone on to scoop a valuable sales race and a Group 3. There’s nothing wrong with that form and he stepped forward to get off the mark impressively over a mile at Killarney the following month. He was far too good for his rivals in the Group 2 KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes and blitzed them, finishing five lengths clear. We probably won’t see the best of him until he tackles middle-distance trips as a three-year-old but his latest performance suggests he’s more than good enough to take home the prize here. The heavy ground will turn this into a stamina test and that should suit. Hawk Mountain Aidan O’Brien’s two-year-olds usually improve significantly from their debuts and Hawk Mountain is the perfect example. The penny dropped too late at the Curragh on debut and he went on to finish fifth behind Geryon, whilst admittedly the trip was plenty short enough. Front-running tactics were employed next time and Wayne Lordan controlled the race from the front. Clearly the extra furlong helped but he also looked much more professional this time around and the next two horses home have boosted the form by winning since. This son of Wootton Bassett is actually rated 1lb higher than stablemate Benvenuto Cellini and that’s a result of his impressive success in the Beresford Stakes last time out. Drastically reversing the form with Geryon, he looks ready for a Group 1 test on that evidence. Action Action started off in a warm maiden at the Curragh in July and he finished third behind two stablemates, one of which has won since and the other wasn’t beaten far in the Group 3 Autumn Stakes. Outpaced at a key stage, he stuck to his task well that day. It’s therefore no surprise that he managed to get off the mark when upped to an extended mile at Galway next time. He made all the running that day and subsequent Group 3 winner Christmas Day was comfortably beaten back in third. Connections then sent him over to Newmarket for the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes last month and he ran a very nice race to finish third. The son of Frankel had to overcome some traffic problems and may well have finished closer if not for that. That form probably leaves him with a little bit to find, especially with his stablemates, but the handicapper has him on 110, which is the same mark as Benvenuto Cellini.
