JOSEPH O’Brien is confident James J Braddock will at least get closer to his Epsom conqueror Christmas Day when they meet again in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh on Sunday.

The Leopardstown Derby Trial winner threatened to boil over pre-race on the Surrey Downs but performed admirably to finish third, beaten five and a quarter lengths by Christmas Day, who provided Aidan O’Brien with his 12th win in the premier classic.

Fresh from saddling five winners at Royal Ascot last week, the Ballydoyle handler’s son Joseph will this weekend bid for a fourth Irish Derby success, having won the race twice as a jockey for his father aboard Camelot (2012) and Australia (2014) before claiming his first classic win as a trainer with Latrobe in 2018.

Speaking at a press morning at his yard on Tuesday, O’Brien said he was delighted with how James J Braddock has recovered from his Epsom exertions and is hopeful he will be better behaved on home soil.

“We’ve been very happy with his prep since Epsom and to be honest we think he’ll probably be better suited by the Curragh. Hopefully he will be more focused on his job and hopefully that translates to a better performance,” said the Owning Hill handler.

“I’d like to think we can get closer (to Christmas Day) anyway. Epsom Derby winners have a pretty good record coming back to the Curragh, but at the same time it looks like there’ll be a fairly significant difference in the conditions, more than what you would normally get, so maybe that just opens the door a little bit for people taking him on.”

Fiery nature

While O’Brien expects James J Braddock to be more amenable at the Curragh than he was at Epsom, he admits his fiery nature is part of his make-up and he would be more concerned if he was quiet before the race.

He added: “He got fired up, but I’ve seen plenty of horses do that before in all different places and for some of them it affects their performance and for some of them it doesn’t. I remember State Of Rest used to get fired up and the one time he didn’t, it was the worst run of his life.

“Every horse is different, he (James J Braddock) has that in his arsenal and it’s not his first time getting a bit revved up, so it wasn’t a complete red flag for us.

“You’d like to think the Curragh would suit him, he’s versatile when it comes to ground and I think the test of the Curragh is more to his liking than Epsom.”

Lambourn became the latest horse to complete the Derby double for Aidan O’Brien 12 months ago, following in the hoofprints of the likes of Galileo (2001), High Chaparral (2002), Camelot, Australia and and Auguste Rodin (2023).

Christmas Day will have the opportunity to add his name to the list this weekend but may not even be the stable’s first string, with controversial Epsom non-runner Benvenuto Cellini heading the betting.

The Chester Vase winner finished down the field in the Derby, but was later declared a non-runner following an incident in the starting stalls.

Oaks winner

Oaks winner Thundering On has been declared for today’s Paddy Power Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh.

The daughter of Frankel was a brilliant winner of the Oaks at Epsom on June 5th and while a bid for a classic double in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks on July 18th is very much on the agenda, O’Brien has raised the possibility of his star filly first taking on her elders on Irish Derby weekend.

“There is a good chance that she might turn up there, but we’ll just see how she is during the week,” the trainer said on Tuesday.

“Obviously when you’re backing up so soon you kind of have to leave the final decision as late as possible, but we’re very happy with how she’s been since Epsom.

“We won the Pretty Polly with her dam (Thundering Nights) and if she did turn up you’d imagine she’d be a short-priced favourite.

“The Irish Oaks is the race we’re very keen on, we want to have her at fever pitch for that, but I quite like the look of the Pretty Polly on the way there in terms of timing, I think 10 furlongs is a lovely trip for her and I think the Curragh will be a good track for her.”

He added: “I don’t think dropping back in trip will be a problem. There is an argument to be made for 10 furlongs being her best trip even, but we’ll see through the course of the season.

“The ground was good and quick in Navan and she handled slower ground in Epsom and in the Curragh last year, so I don’t think she has a worry in terms of ground conditions.

“I think she’s a nice filly and she won very well in Epsom. She got a good set-up and a good ride on the day, she has a high rating and she is now short in the market for all the biggest races in the world.

“It’s exciting to have a filly like her and hopefully we can have a smooth passage through the season with her.”