O’Brien seeks confidence boost for A Boy Named Susie

Donnacha O’Brien will seek a confidence-booster for his talented Eclipse runner-up A Boy Named Susie before returning to the top table later in the season.

The son of Starspangledbanner, who is owned by the trainer’s sister Ana, has consistently enhanced his reputation with some fine performances in defeat, starting at two when chasing home Pierre Bonnard in the Criterium International and continuing into his Classic season.

A somewhat luckless fourth behind Constitution River in the French Derby on his penultimate start, he again bumped into the year’s leading three-year-old middle-distance colt when a brave second at Sandown most recently.

Remarkably A Boy Named Susie is without a victory since his Killarney debut and with that in mind, O’Brien has a slight drop in level in mind, with a trip to Deauville for the Prix Guillaume d’Ornano on August 15 or the Curragh’s Royal Whip Stakes a day later seen as the ideal options to tee-up high-ranking assignments in the autumn.

O’Brien said: “He’s A1 since the Eclipse and he will probably go for the mile and a quarter Group race in France or the Royal Whip at the Curragh the day after. We’ll probably go for one of them before looking for a bigger target in the autumn.

“We would just like to get a win into him and give him a bit of confidence before we step back up to Group One class. We think he’s a Group One horse and I think he will probably be even better again next year.”

A Boy Named Susie was subject of reports that he had been sold to Australia last week, but although a trip to the southern hemisphere for the Cox Plate remains a possibility, O’Brien confirmed he will remain in his care as he plots an exciting end to his charge’s three-year-old campaign.

O’Brien added: “He hasn’t been sold. The Cox Plate, the Breeders’ Cup and the Irish Champion are all possible races for him.

“We could also look at the Champion Stakes at Ascot and I wouldn’t even rule out having a look at the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes with him on Champions Day. He’s a horse with a lot of options.”