THE Aidan O’Brien team are beginning to flex their muscles as the season makes its relentless march towards Epsom and Royal Ascot in June.

Several horses from that yard impressed with their performances last weekend and a couple come under my data microscope, and I have two horses to follow from Gowran Park last week.

Delacroix took the Group 3 Cashel Palace Hotel Derby Trial Stakes Leopardstown.

He had finished second to Hotazhell in an attritional Vertum Futurity at Doncaster on his final start as a two-year-old.

That race was a strongly-run contest on soft ground where all the runners finished tired. Delacroix recorded a Finishing Speed Percentage (FSP) of 96.47% (par: 107.43%) as he battled on gamely in the style of a strong stayer.

The stamina and grit that he showed at Doncaster has not been tested in two starts this season, but we have learnt something else about him, namely that he has got plenty of speed.

He started his three-year-old campaign in the Group 3 Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown in which he dominated proceedings from the front showing plenty of speed.

He dictated a slow gallop for the first seven furlongs before quickening well in the final three furlongs to record an FSP of 105.28% with the RaceIQ par being 102.34%. His fastest furlong was his penultimate one where he recorded an 11.60s split reaching a top speed of 39.10mph, the better ground helping him to display more speed than he did at Doncaster.

Sunday’s Derby Trial was run at a steady tempo as well with Delacroix racing in second place before quickening up very impressively in the final three furlongs, recording an FSP of 115.32% and running faster than he has done in any of his previous races.

He reached a top speed of 41.17mph in the penultimate furlong and his final three furlongs are all rated as being very fast when compared with the Race IQ par as detailed below.

Delacroix Final Three Furlong Splits:

F8: 11.44s (Very Fast)

F9: 10.89s (Very Fast)

F10: 11.64s (Very Fast)

This display of sustained speed is something that Delacroix had not delivered in his career prior to this and though he may have looked like a stayer at Doncaster last year, he clearly has plenty of speed when conditions allow him to utilise this asset.

Delacroix has a pedigree that suggests he will stay the Derby trip, after all his half-sister Grateful (Galileo) won the Group 1 Prix Royallieu at Longchamp last season. With the Derby trip likely to suit, the speed that he has shown this season will be a potent weapon at Epsom and I would not put anyone off supporting him at the generally available 9/2.

THERE was an electric and exciting performance from Albert Einstein in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden at Naas.

His raw ability matches his physique and he heads the market for the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot with the promise of plenty more to come. If the more experienced Evening Blues had not been in the field, Albert Einstein would have been a comfortable 12-length winner and that says plenty for the ability of the runner-up as well.

Data analysis of this race shows that the winning time of 1m 12.05s with a Race IQ time index of 6.6 out of 10 was above the meeting average of 6.2 but was not outstanding.

Final times are a good starting point for analysis, but they must be seen in the context of how they were achieved by breaking that time down into individual sectionals.

This was a race of two halves. The first three furlongs were steadily run before the pace quickened up through the second half of the race. Albert Einstein quickened well recording a final two furlongs of 22.78s compared to the runner-up 23.58s.

These final two furlongs resulted in him recording an FSP of 106.63% well above the Race IQ par of 100.23%. His sectionals and a rating as against the Race IQ pars are detailed below.

Albert Einstein Sectionals

F1: 14.83s (Very Slow)

F2: 11.76s (Slow)

F3: 11.49s (Slow)

F4: 11.18s (Par)

F5: 11.08s (Fast)

F6: 11.70s (Very Fast)

He was very strong at the finish having saved energy in the early part of the race and did not have a hard race, the early gallop ensuring that this was like a strong piece of work for him. The Coventry is the obvious target for which he was well supported immediately after this race and is now generally available at 3/1.

Evening Blues in second place is a certainty for a maiden soon and he may well become a pattern race performer.

AT Gowran Park last week there were two performances that produced positive data profiles from Goodie Two Shows and Darzina. Both must be followed.

Goodie Two Shoes put up an outstanding time performance in winning the Listed Irish Stallion Farms Vintage Tipple Stakes.

She has run over hurdles and fences, but now has four wins from eight starts on the flat and given her broodmare potential may stay on the level now. The Vintage Tipple has been run since 2018 and the final time of 2m56.56s was the fastest winning time by a staggering 5.50s.

Races are not often run over this distance at Gowran so meaningful time comparisons are difficult, however the last time they did compete over this mile and three quarters the winning time was over 18.00s slower.

A dive into the sectionals reveals that this was a strongly-run race with the winner quickening impressively for a stayer. Her final half mile included some impressive splits, including three sub-12.00s furlongs. Her third last furlong of 11.02s was particularly impressive and contributed to an FSP of 109.14% which enabled her to pull six lengths clear of the second.

This was the first time Goodie Two Shoes had run over a mile and three quarters on the flat and given an incoming rise in the weights she should get into the Sky Bet Ebor at York which was won by Magical Zoe last year who had a very similar profile.

DARZINA, a well-bred debutante impressed with the turn of foot that she showed in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden at Gowran, given that she is bred for longer distances.

Off modest fractions, she quickened to the front with a 10.71s penultimate furlong which contributed to an FSP of 115.71% with the Race IQ par being 106.76%.

All her final three furlongs are rated as very fast when compared to the par sectionals and she achieved this while still looking inexperienced.

She is bred to stay a mile and a half and has an entry in the Irish Oaks, a race that may come a little soon for her in terms of experience, but there is no doubt she has plenty of raw ability and Dermot Weld will be sure to place her to good effect.

The runner-up Tswalu looked ill at ease on the track and was hampered when first trying to pick up.

Once in the clear, she was able to run a very fast penultimate furlong of 11.08s, but by then the winner had swept to the front. Tswalu looks one to be with on a flatter track next time out.