{"id":64502,"date":"2025-08-13T17:31:05","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T17:31:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/64502\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T17:31:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T17:31:05","slug":"lambourn-still-definitely-in-the-voltigeur-mix-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/64502\/","title":{"rendered":"Lambourn still \u2018definitely\u2019 in the Voltigeur mix \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aidan O\u2019Brien<\/a> is giving serious consideration to running his dual Derby winner Lambourn in the Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes at York next week.<\/p>\n

The Australia colt emulated his sire by striking Classic gold at Epsom and the Curragh in June and is now ready to step up his preparations for a major autumn target.<\/p>\n

For a long time another Classic bid in the St Leger at Doncaster seemed likely, but with stablemate Scandinavia throwing his hat into that particular ring with victory in the Goodwood Cup, Lambourn may instead be bound for Paris and a tilt at the Prix de l\u2019Arc de Triomphe.<\/p>\n

When asked whether Lambourn could step back to Group Two level on the Knavesmire, O\u2019Brien told Sky Sports Racing: \u201cHe could, we\u2019ve a lot of horses kind of ready for the Voltigeur, some are just about ready and some are probably not going to make it.<\/p>\n

\u201cLambourn definitely could. We\u2019ll see how he is and his next target then can be either the Leger or the Arc. I think the lads are thinking Scandinavia is going to be trained for the Leger now \u2013 if the ground was nice he would go there and Lambourn wouldn\u2019t go there, but if it was the other way Lambourn would go there.<\/p>\n

\u201cLambourn probably needs a race between now and the Leger or the Arc and it [Great Voltigeur] is a race that could suit him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a straightforward, honest, no-nonsense horse. He does what he has to do and doesn\u2019t do any more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another Ballydoyle inmate with Arc aspirations is last year\u2019s third Los Angeles, who made an excellent start to his campaign with successive wins at the Curragh but could finish only fifth as a hot favourite for the Prince of Wales\u2019s Stakes at Royal Ascot.<\/p>\n

Having since enjoyed a midseason break, he is set to return to competitive action in the Newbridge Silverware Royal Whip Stakes at the Curragh on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were thinking he could go to the Royal Whip and go and improve a lot,\u201d O\u2019Brien added.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s had a break since Ascot and we were thinking if he went to the Curragh this weekend he could go to the Prix Foy as an Arc trial or he could go to the Irish Champion Stakes as an Arc trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll those things are open, but he\u2019s just starting back and he\u2019ll be running with no pressure win, lose or draw [this weekend]. We\u2019d just like to get a run into him to get him ready for the autumn.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Arc has been his target all the time. We tightened him up a bit too much in the Prince of Wales\u2019s Stakes and because of that he just had to have a little rest. He\u2019s come back happy, but will progress a lot before the Arc.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien also had news of Henri Matisse, last seen finishing third in the Sussex Stakes behind shock 150-1 winner Qirat.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien said: \u201cHe\u2019ll go probably for the Prix du Moulin. Goodwood was a little bit of a disaster \u2013 it was really only a four-furlong dash in the second half of the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was one of those races that is hard to work out, but we were very happy with the run, Ryan [Moore]) was very happy with him and we think he\u2019s still progressing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t seen the best of him yet, we think.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aidan O\u2019Brien is giving serious consideration to running his dual Derby winner Lambourn in the Sky Bet Great…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[18390,3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-64502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-aidan-o-brien","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}