O'Brien undecided

Aidan O'Brien's Genghis Khan remains a possible runner in the Irish St Leger but the Ballydoyle trainer's focus is likely to …

Aidan O'Brien's Genghis Khan remains a possible runner in the Irish St Leger but the Ballydoyle trainer's focus is likely to be away from the Curragh on Saturday.

Richard Hughes has been booked to ride Brahms in the Group Two Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury and the latest Group One target for O'Brien's all-conquering juvenile team is the Prix Salamandre at Longchamp on the same day.

The Gimcrack winner Mull Of Kintyre, the Futurity winner Giant's Causeway and the Tyros scorer Royal Kingdom remain in the Salamandre, the race that Stravinsky was beaten in by Aljabr last year.

"We hope to have a runner in it but we haven't decided which one yet. We will have to wait and see what the ground is like and how they work in the morning," O'Brien said yesterday.

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Bernstein, one of the favourites for next year's 2,000 Guineas, is set to start in Sunday's National Stakes at the Curragh although O'Brien admits that the very bad weather forecast for the weekend is "a big worry".

However, he added: "Bernstein is ready to have a start and at this stage he is an intended runner. We haven't decided yet which of the others will start with him."

The ground at the Curragh is currently yielding although course manager Brian Kavanagh described the weather forecast for Friday night as "worrying".

The St Leger will be Irish-born jockey Joe Fanning's first Irish classic as he will be on board the Mark Johnston-trained Yavana's Pace in the big race.

Fanning (28) rode the Johnston-trained Three Green Leaves to win the Goffs Bonus Race at Cork last October and said yesterday: "I've ridden the Curragh a few times but my only winner in Ireland was at Cork."

Yavana's Pace won the Group Three September Stakes at Epsom on his last start.

Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor is the racing correspondent of The Irish Times. He also writes the Tipping Point column