WHEN Aidan O’Brien speaks at his annual early-season press morning, it usually tends to be well worth paying close attention. Back at the same equivalent press event in 2022, when asked for unraced two-year-olds to follow, O’Brien immediately put forward the No Nay Never colt that would later race as Little Big Bear - crowned Europe’s champion juvenile that year after achieving a rating of 124.
The second horse he mentioned that morning? It turned out to be the season’s third top-rated juvenile filly in Europe, Royal Ascot and Breeders’ Cup heroine Meditate. The next pair he mentioned either won two-year-old maidens or earned blacktype without scaling immense heights, but the final two he referred to as “making it into our A grade when they’ve been working” were high class indeed.
One proved to be The Antarctic, a dual Group 3 winner who finished runner-up in the Group 1 Middle Park and third in the Group 1 Prix Morny, and the other was Aesop’s Fables, successful in the Group 2 Futurity Stakes on his second start before going on to be Group 1-placed at three in the Prix de l’Abbaye and Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
All in all, of the six juveniles O’Brien flagged up at the early-season press morning, four made it into the end-of-year European Two-Year-Old Classifications with ratings of 124, 114, 113 and 110. The other two reached 97 and 92. It was quite the judgement.
How did his predictions from last season’s press visit to Ballydoyle pan out?
“I don’t know which of them is best at this stage, but the Wootton Bassett colt out of Yet just looks a bit different,” O’Brien said last March.
That unnamed juvenile was none other than Albert Einstein, who holds a Timeform rating of 107p after winning his first two starts in style - including the Group 3 Marble Hill Stakes (in which he beat subsequent Group 1 winner Power Blue and Coventry Stakes fourth/listed winner Andab). What a shame it was that we never got to see him again, though hopes are high he’ll make up for lost time in 2026. He’s now favourite for the 2000 Guineas.
Half a dozen other juveniles were put forward and all bar two broke the 100-mark. Breeders’ Cup Turf and Coventry Stakes star Gstaad (also runner-up in three Group 1s last season) made the early-season mentions, as did Norfolk Stakes winner Charles Darwin.
Flushing Meadows won first time out before two Group 3 seconds in the Anglesey and Tyros, and Piazza San Marco impressed in a Galway maiden. They are rated a-solid 103 and 105 respectively.
Whether it be regarding his two-year-olds, or his star squad of classic contenders and older aces, O’Brien’s comments make for essential reading once again ahead of the 2026 flat season proper.
Expanded
4yo b c (12-996-)
Wootton Bassett - Jigsaw
“He’ll have a run before the Lockinge and we’ll see what happens. He just didn’t get a good, clean run at things last year.”
Illinois
5yo b h (13/3212221-1227-)
Galileo - Danedrop
“He had some good runs last year, and he’ll be one for the staying bracket again this season.”
Jan Brueghel
5yo b h (1111/214-)
Galileo - Devoted To You
“The plan is for him to be trained for the Coronation Cup, and to have a run beforehand. The Coronation has a different look to it this year and is worth a lot of money.”
Lambourn
4yo b c (115/211154-)
Australia - Gossamer Wings
“We’re very happy with him. We’re going to train him for the Coronation Cup. We’ll give him a run beforehand, that could be in the Mooresbridge Stakes at the Curragh.”
Minnie Hauk
4yo b f (21/111126-)
Frankel - MultilingualSec
“She’ll be trained for the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh and will have a run before that, possibly in the Mooresbridge. She’ll have the option of the Coronation too. Then she might go to Royal Ascot for the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes. She could have the Arc in mind again this year. In hindsight, maybe I should have finished with her after the Arc last year, when she was only a three-year-old filly, but she ran a great race. There’ll be other three-year-olds coming along this year, so it will depend on how they fare [in terms of Arc plans]. She’s stronger this year - no doubt. She’s twice as wide and is in great order. We’re not rushing her but everything she’s doing is lovely.”
Scandinavia
4yo bb c (327-15111)
Justify - Fabulous
“He’ll go down the staying route this season. He’d been entered for Dubai, but I’d imagine he wouldn’t be going. He could head for the Vintage Crop and then on to the Saval Beg Stakes.”
The Lion In Winter
4yo b c (11-60303230)
Sea The Stars - What A Home
“He had some very good runs over a mile last season. We’re planning on running him at Newbury [in the Lockinge Stakes].”
Twain
4yo b c (11/)
Wootton Bassett - Wading
“I couldn’t get him right last year, all little niggly things, but he’s back in great shape. It was probably the biggest disappointment of last year that I couldn’t get him out. Everything is going right so far and we’re thinking of the Lockinge, and one run before it. He’s not slow, he might get further looking at his pedigree, but I think he’s a miler.”
Action
3yo ch c (3132-)
Frankel - Gossamer Wings
“He’s very well. He ran a very good race [when second to Hawk Mountain] in the Futurity Stakes at Doncaster.
“I’d imagine he’ll be trained for Epsom and would run in the trials for Epsom. He could go to Chester or Leopardstown. He looks an Epsom type.”
Albert Einstein
3yo b c (11-)
Wootton Bassett - Yet
“In terms of the 2000 Guineas horses at the moment, our number one is Albert. He’s being trained for the Guineas alongside Puerto Rico and Gstaad. I’d imagine one of them will go to France and hopefully come back to the Curragh or wherever. From listening to the lads, I thought two of them might go to Newmarket. With the way the ground is, I’d imagine they’ll all go straight to the Guineas. Albert is the main horse.
“He’s done very well physically. He’s big and powerful and very rapid. Wide and strong. Obviously, we won’t know if he’s going to get the mile until we do it. The stride people, the heart people, the pedigree people; everyone says that he will get a mile, but he’s a very quick thinker. He’s very rapid to do anything, he’s quick to leave the stalls and very quick into his stride.
“Really, we’re not going to know [if he stays beforehand] and we’re not going to search to find out, because we don’t want to wake him up too much. We’re going to train him asleep and see what’s going to happen. We want to make sure he relaxes.
“When we started working him in the spring of his two-year-old career last year, we thought all the two-year-olds were no good and we thought he was the only horse we had - he was that far above everything else. It was unusual. He was so far ahead of the other two-year-olds at the start it wasn’t funny.
“He had his two runs; he won his maiden very easily and then, after being keen over six furlongs, won the Marble Hill. The runner-up [Power Blue] won a Group 1 afterwards, and our horse had a mishap. He picked up a little fracture at the Curragh; that won’t bother him this year. It healed perfect.
“He’s unbelievably quick and is like a sprinter in how he hits the gates quick and travels strong. Speed-wise, I don’t think we’ve had a horse like him mentally, and obviously how he does everything that quickly. I don’t know whether he’ll stay or not - everyone says he will, but I’ll have to see it first and we’ll learn on the day.
“The problem is, the minute the gates open, he is rapid. It’s a natural instinct. He has very quick twitch muscles and he just lands running and travelling. Ideally, you wouldn’t like to see him making the running, because you can’t make the running in a Guineas doing that. You’d like to see him going to sleep in the first half and don’t worry about where he is. Then see what he’s going to do.
“He’s unbelievably exciting. He’s the horse everyone is dreaming about, because there’s so much that could be. We don’t know what’s going to happen, but he has everything.
“The plan at the moment is they will all go to the Curragh in a fortnight. That will be their biggest work before it, and then they’ll be trained for the Guineas.
“We won’t ask him anything, we’ll let him up in the middle of them and see what’s going to happen. It’s a funny thing. Every year we’ve done that, loads of Guineas winners haven’t come up in the first six.
“They’ll just float up and the lads who ride them have a fair idea of what they felt, rather than [judging them off] what we saw.”
Amadeus Mozart
3yo b c (1-)
Wootton Bassett - Pendant
“He won his only start in a maiden at the Curragh [last June] and looks a Derby trial type of horse.”
Amelia Earhart
3yo b f (32241-)
Camelot - Venus De Milo
“I think she’s a good filly, even though it took her a long time to win her maiden at the back-end of the season at Leopardstown. She looks an Oaks type.”
Beautify
3yo b f (3128-)
Wootton Bassett - Words
“A Group 2 winner and a good second in the Moyglare last season. I think we’re training her for a French Guineas this year. Around a bend, an easy mile, might suit her.”
Benvenuto Cellini
3yo ch c (2113-)
Frankel - Newspaperofrecord
“He won well at the Irish Champions Festival [before finishing third to Hawk Mountain in the Futurity at Doncaster]. He’s an Epsom horse, I’d say. He’s done very well, that horse. He’s a great mover and Epsom would probably suit him. We’re very happy with him.”
Bloom
3yo b f (71-)
Wootton Bassett - Laburnum
“An Oaks trial type of filly. She won her maiden at Cork last autumn over a mile.”
Cameo
3yo b f (0314-)
Wootton Bassett - Zagitova
“She won a maiden at the Curragh towards the back-end of last season before going for a Group 3 [finishing fourth in the Staffordstown Stud Stakes]. She’ll go for an Oaks trial.”
Cape Primrose
3yo b f (52-)
St Mark’s Basilica - Again
“She was just touched off in a maiden at Thurles on her last start of the season. She could go into an Oaks trial.”
Causeway
3yo b c (41-)
Wootton Bassett - Heaven Of Heavens)
“We had an eye on the Madrid Handicap for him this weekend at Naas. He could be a Paddington type of horse, but will stay. He won his maiden very easily second time out at the Curragh.”
Charles Darwin
3yo b c (4111-)
No Nay Never - Muirin
“He could be a very good, out-and-out sprinter. He’ll go for the three-year-old sprints on his way to the Commonwealth Cup. We didn’t get to run him since [winning the Norfolk Stakes at] Royal Ascot, but I’m very happy with him. He’s a big, block of a horse.”
Christmas Day
3yo b c (3511-)
Camelot - Beauly
“He won the [Group 3] Eyrefield Stakes on his last start of the year at Leopardstown. He’ll go for a Derby trial.”
Classiest
3yo b f (1-)
Wootton Bassett - Coral Beach
“She won on her only start at Galway last season [in blinkers]. We had her back, but she went a little bit lame behind and was off. She probably might end up at Ascot or a group race somewhere.”
Composing
3yo b f (5111436-)
Wootton Bassett - Epona Plays
“She could be a Guineas type of filly this season [having won the Silver Flash and Debutante Stakes in the middle of last year].”
Constitution River
3yo b c (211-)
Wootton Bassett - Chuppy
“A very good horse. Won his maiden at Galway and then the Futurity Stakes at the Curragh. He had a bit of a mishap after that. He looks another French Derby type of horse, and could be an Epsom horse either.”
Diamond Necklace
3yo b f (111-)
St Mark’s Basilica - Prudenzia
“She’s very like her dad. She’s made great progress and is very strong, very natural, takes no training. She’s doing the very same as him. He didn’t win until the end [of his first few runs at two], so we were kind of surprised with what she did; that’s why we couldn’t wait to get her finished. She’s very natural and quick. Christophe [Soumillon] was always besotted by her. Listening to the lads, it’s possible that she might go to France and Precise might go to Newmarket for the 1000 Guineas. It’s possible Diamond Necklace could go for the French Oaks afterwards, but we’ll get them started and see.”
Dorset
3yo gr c (215411-)
Wootton Bassett - Snowflakes
“He had a good end to his year [winning the Goffs Million and Group 3 Killavullan Stakes]. He’ll have a Derby prep and could be a French Derby horse.”
Drop Dead Gorgeous
3yo b f (unraced)
Dubawi - You’resothrilling
“We think this is a very smart filly, who we’re planning on running this weekend at Naas. She’s a half-sister to Gleneagles and could start [over a mile in a fillies’ maiden] on Sunday.”
Endorsement
3yo b c (2128-)
Wootton Bassett - Embellish
“He won his maiden at Tipperary before stepping into group company at Newmarket and in France [behind Pierre Bonnard]. He could be one to go to Ascot.”
Flushing Meadows
3yo b c (122-)
Wootton Bassett - Hence
“He might end up being a French Derby type of horse [after finishing second in the Group 3 Tyros Stakes when last seen].”
George Stubbs
3yo b c (unraced)
Camelot - Inca Princess
“We always thought the world of George Stubbs; that’s why he was called that name [after the renowned equine artist]. Everything was beautiful about him. Every time we went to run him, he always disappointed in his last piece of work and never got to run. Now, we haven’t got to that stage yet, but we always thought he was a mile-and-a-half horse. He probably won’t get out to be a Derby horse, but he could end up at Royal Ascot. Maybe he was just a bit weak before.”
Gstaad
3yo b c (112221-)
Starspangledbanner - Mosa Mine
“We’re very happy with him and he’ll be trained for the Guineas. It was great he ended his year with a win at the Breeders’ Cup. We think he’s a good horse, a Guineas horse, and it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in the world if he ended up in the Cox Plate or something like that. He’s quick and he stays. He could get a mile and a quarter.”
Hawk Mountain
3yo b c (5111-)
Wootton Bassett - Hydrangea
“He won the Beresford Stakes and the Futurity at Doncaster on his last two starts of the year. He’ll be trained for Epsom or France. If some of the other horses go to Epsom, he’ll be very comfortable at a mile and a quarter [for the French Derby]. I’d imagine he’ll go for a trial first.”
Isaac Newton
3yo b c (2154-)
Camelot - Etive
“He won his maiden at Goodwood last year, and looks like a mile-and-a-quarter or mile-and-a-half horse. I think he’s one who could improve a good bit.”
Italy
3yo b c (12238-)
Wootton Bassett - Bound
“He ran well in group company after winning his maiden first time out. We’re not sure how far he’ll stay, whether it’ll be seven furlongs or a mile.”
Mission Central
3yo b g (511610-)
No Nay Never - Thar She Blows
“He won at Ascot on Champions Day last year and is a sprinting type. As a gelding, he’ll be working with the other two sprinters, Brussels and Charles Darwin.”
Moments Of Joy
3yo ch f (1325-)
Justify - Shell House
“She won her maiden first time out at Leopardstown and ran well in blacktype races afterwards. She’s an Oaks/Guineas trial type of filly.”
Montreal
3yo b c (31-)
Sea The Stars - Muwakaba
“I’m very happy with him. He could be trained for the Derby or the Guineas. He won very easily at Leopardstown in his maiden last season. We think he’ll get a Derby trip; you couldn’t be sure, but we think he’s a very legitimate Epsom horse, whether he starts at a mile or a mile and a quarter.”
New Zealand
3yo b c (7145-)
Frankel - Different League
“A maiden winner at the Curragh last year, who then went for group races at Newmarket and Saint-Cloud. He’ll go for the Derby trials and looks one who will stay.”
Pierre Bonnard
3yo b c (4111-)
Camelot - Sultanina
“We’re very happy with him and he’s being trained for Epsom. I think he looks our number one for the Derby. He’s a big Camelot, very straightforward, very relaxed, very chilled. Christophe has always been super impressed with him. Ryan [Moore] has never ridden him [in a race] and only rode him yesterday [Sunday] morning for the first time.
“He might have the two Irish trials before Epsom [in the Ballysax and Cashel Palace Hotel Derby Trial at Leopardstown]. Wayne [Lordan] felt he loved the fast ground at Dundalk when he won his maiden there last season. You’d imagine he’ll get a mile and a half well, because he’s so relaxed. He’s classy and you can see he’s done very well. He’s a big, rangey horse.”
Port Ferdinand
3yo gr c (1-)
Camelot - Amazing Maria
“He’s a nice horse who did well to win a maiden over seven furlongs on bad ground from a bad draw. Ronan [Whelan] won on him that day. He’s going to stay; he’s out of a very good mare [Group 1 Prix Rothschild and Falmouth Stakes winner Amazing Maria]. It’ll be interesting whether he’s classy enough, we’ll see, but we’ll start him in a trial and go from there.”
Port Of Spain
3yo b c (631537-)
St Mark’s Basilica - Alive Alive Oh
“He won his maiden at Punchestown and got placed in a Group 3 at Leopardstown at the back-end of the season [last seen finishing down the field in the Group 1 Criterium International]. He’ll have a Derby prep and could be a French Derby horse.”
Puerto Rico
3yo bb c (42224111-)
Wootton Bassett - April Showers
“He’s being trained for the Guineas with Albert Einstein and Gstaad. Obviously, I must have done a very bad job on him last season with how he surprised us later in the year! I was running him over five and six furlongs. He ran over six at Goodwood one day and he was flat out the whole way, but still finished second [in the Group 2 Richmond Stakes]. He just kept progressing [when going up in trip].
“The funny thing with him is, he missed two months at the start of the year, so was a good bit behind everything else. When we started racing him, he was playing catch up all the time. When he went from six to seven he improved, and the same from seven to a mile. He’s obviously a very good horse and physically has done very well.
“He’s scopey and strong; his mind has gone the right way. He could be anything. I thought of all the horses who could race and travel, he could be the one who could go through the season and do a lot more. He’s off-handed and could go to all the Group 1s. I have it in my head that he could be a miler and take on the older milers, but everything is going to depend on what Albert does. That will decide all the others.”
Precise
3yo ch f (21111-)
Starspangledbanner - Way To My Heart
“At the moment, listening to what the lads are thinking, she might go straight to Newmarket [for the 1000 Guineas]. Everyone says she won’t stay further, as a Starspangledbanner, but my instinct is she’s an incredible filly. I think she’ll go to the Guineas and I think she’ll go to the Oaks after that. I could be totally wrong, we’ve only trained a few Starspangledbanners, but everything she does suggests she will stay [a mile and a half]. She has loads of personality and relaxes.
“In the Fillies’ Mile, I was super impressed with her. She coasted through the last furlong, after Christophe had dropped her out, which I didn’t think he’d do as much. I thought she was a certainty going to the Breeders’ Cup last year. I really thought all she had to do was go around in America. She travelled over great, but she coughed while over there and the tests suggested she picked up an infection travelling. We couldn’t run her.
“Probably because of that, though, it crowned her. She had the week off over there and, for her mind, it would have done her good. She’s an incredible filly. She’s not over big. What’s unusual about her too is that, for her size, she’s still 30kg up on last year’s racing weight, which isn’t what usually happens with a filly who isn’t overly big.”
Simply Astounding
3yo b f (15-)
Wootton Bassett - Minding
“We had her back and everything was flying with her, but she went a little bit wrong on us last week, so we had to stop again. I’d imagine she’ll end up missing the classics and will end up going to Royal Ascot. She’s a very good filly by Wootton Bassett, out of Minding.”
Straight Up
3yo b c (16-)
Wootton Bassett - Flutter
“A maiden winner on his first start at Listowel before he probably got dropped out too far in the Autumn Stakes at Newmarket [when sixth]. From where he was, he had no chance, so he’s a lot better than that run and could be a fair horse. He’ll probably be trained for a French Derby Trial or something like that.”
Sugar Island
3yo b f (15391-)
Dubawi - Heaven On Earth
“She’s a Guineas type of filly, who will go for a trial [after winning the Group 3 Staffordstown Stud Stakes at the Curragh in October].”
Together Now
3yo ch f (2-)
Dubawi - Together Forever
“She’s a half-sister to City Of Troy and had just the one run last season when second at Leopardstown in a maiden in October. She’s probably a good maiden, but she’s a month or two away.”
Trojan Warrior
3yo bb c (1-)
Wootton Bassett - Monday
“He was very green when he won his only start in a maiden [over six furlongs] at the Curragh in the autumn. He could be an Irish Guineas horse, and might go to the Tetrarch Stakes on the way. He could be a fair horse.”
True Love
3yo b f (2211218-)
No Nay Never - Alluringly
“She could be trained for a Guineas, even though she’s a No Nay Never [and won the Queen Mary over five furlongs/Cheveley Park Stakes over six furlongs last season]. We’ll give her a chance at getting a mile and there’s a chance that she could get it.”
“As usual, we haven’t overly pushed them. We have a very good two-year-old by St Mark’s Basilica out of Palace, the dam of High Definition. He’s called South Dakota and looks very smart.
“There’s a No Nay Never out of Gems called Great Barrier Reef [a full-brother to Group 2 winner Mystery Power]. We have a very smart Blackbeard out of Liberisque [the dam of Group 1 Flying Five Stakes winner Arizona Blaze]. He’s big, powerful, strong and will arrive early. He’s been named Captain James Cook [and was bought for 500,000gns in Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale]. He’ll be out shortly. We have 10 that are possible Ascot horses, who could be running in the next month.
“Precise has a lovely half-brother there by Wootton Bassett [out of the dam Way To My Heart]. There’s another Wootton Bassett colt out of High Celebrity [bought for €2.3 million in the Arqana Deauville August Yearling Sale as a half-brother to Queen’s Vase runner-up Highbury].
“There’s a No Nay Never out of Fairyland [dual Group 1-winning sprinter], and a Justify out of Immortal Verse [making him a full to Statuette, a three-parts brother to Tenebrism and a half to Henri Matisse].
“We also have a Wootton Bassett out of Fancy called Wall Street [dam has produced Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup winner The Grey Wizard and the multiple group-placed Fancy Man]. The Dubawi colt out of Lady Bowthorpe [Group 1 Nassau Stakes winner] is a beautiful horse [bought for 1,300,000gns in Book 1].
“I think the St Mark’s Basilica out of Amazonika is a smart horse too [bought for €520,000 from Arqana Deauville August Yearling Sale and a half-brother to Coventry Stakes winner Rashabar].”
A possible dark horse for the Derby
“Montreal was very smart at Leopardstown when he won. Isaac Newton is a very dark horse as well. I don’t know whether he will get to the Derby ahead of the others, or whether he will end up at Ascot, but he’s a very dark horse and is much better than anyone thinks he is. But, listen, it’s very hard to not have an each-way [bet] on Montreal. He’s a big price.”
The importance of the Derby
“The Derby is still the race that we all want to win. It’s different class, and it’s what the whole breed is based on. You can kid yourself about other races and some of them are great for the older horses, but for anyone who breeds a horse, that is where every horse is gauged. Some of them don’t do an awful lot after it because it is such a tough race. It’s the ultimate test; mental, physical, they have to be quick, they have to stay. It’s a brutal race, but that is the way it has to be. If you’re an athlete, those big races are tough and unforgiving.”