O'Brien hopeful of success with Battleground in National Stakes Aidan O’Brien goes in search of his first Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes in four years at the Curragh this Sunday on the second day of Longines Irish Champions Weekend. His principal contender is Battleground, who won the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot on his second start and followed that up with a victory in the Group 2 Vintage Stakes at Goodwood in July. O’Brien says he is a horse who has developed nicely but it has been a very difficult year for training young horses given the uncertainty at the start of the season. “Battleground looks like the main one at the moment. He’s a big, powerful horse. He’s done very well physically. "We’re looking forward to him. He seems versatile, he’s handled good ground and slowish ground so he’s a horse to look forward to, we think. “We messed up our two-year-olds this year. We messed the whole thing. We obviously trained them for the first week (of the resumption of Irish racing in June) because we needed, or we were hoping, to have horses to run in (Royal) Ascot. “Then, because they only got out that week, we backed them up quick (at Ascot). Some of them took it, an odd one took it, but most horses don’t. "And usually when you do that, you kind of mess up the next couple of months after that and it’s hard enough to get them back. “So it’s been a bit of a mess really but obviously we’re lucky that some horses have coped with it and come through it. "A lot of those horses, probably if we get them on an even keel over the winter and into the spring, we won’t see the best of them until then.
