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O'Brien hopes Sherpa can lead him to glory

SherpaSherpa
© Photo Healy Racing

Donnacha O’Brien could have his first ever runner as a trainer in a Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby if Sherpa takes his chance at the Curragh on Saturday.

Sherpa ran well in third behind Crossfirehurricane in the recent Group 3 Gallinule Stakes over 10 furlongs at the Curragh, and his trainer told Dave Keena that he's happy to let him take his chance in what looks a wide-open race.

He said: "He hasn't done much - the ground was probably slightly on the quick side for him at the Curragh, so we just gave him a few easy days to help him come back to himself.

"He's back moving well and everything has gone good. There's not much time between the races, so we won't have done any serious work with him. We'll just keep tipping over and we are looking forward to next weekend.

"You have to treat it as another race - obviously we do our best for every race, all the horses are prepped to be as perfect for the races as we can. We won't be doing anything different.

"It was nice to see that the filly (Fancy Blue, second in the Irish 1,000 Guineas) was able to be competitive in such good races and that gives you a bit of confidence going into a race like the Irish Derby.

"I'm not saying that I fancy him to win or anything, but in a year that is as open as it is now you never know."

O'Brien was on board 2018 Irish Derby winner Latrobe for his brother Joseph O'Brien.