O'Brien hopeful for Steinbeck Aidan O'Brien hopes Steinbeck has progressed enough to give Canford Cliffs a race in Tuesday's St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot. Always held in high regard at Ballydoyle, the Footstepsinthesand colt was beaten just half a length in last season's Dewhurst on only his second start. It was apparently a rush to get him ready for the Irish 2000 Guineas but he ran a promising race to finish fourth to Canford Cliffs. "You always hope you can turn the tables on a horse," said O'Brien. "The Curragh was his first run back, he ran a lovely race, got a little tired and then stayed on at the finish. "You always hope that they progress well after their first run and we hope that he has. "He's been in very good form. He looks a tighter horse than he did then and he wasn't stopping at the Curragh, he just got shuffled back a little bit. "He was just in a nice rhythm when he went for the same gap as Canford Cliffs, so he just had to wait for a second. He maybe lost a little bit of ground but stayed on well when he got back into top gear," he said.
