O’Brien bids to stop Dettori bandwagon in Deauville Group One

Le Brivido and So Perfect fly Ballydoyle flag in Prix Maurice de Gheest

Aidan O’Brien pitches both Le Brivido   and So Perfect   into the €380,000 Prix Maurice de Gheest over six and a half furlongs. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
Aidan O’Brien pitches both Le Brivido and So Perfect into the €380,000 Prix Maurice de Gheest over six and a half furlongs. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho

Aidan O’Brien will try to put a stop to Frankie Dettori’s Group One bandwagon at Deauville on Sunday.

The Irishman pitches both Le Brivido (Ryan Moore) and So Perfect (Andrea Atzeni) into the €380,000 Prix Maurice de Gheest over six and a half furlongs.

Victory for either would mean a 10th Group One success of the year for O’Brien although it is Dettori that once again looks the man to beat.

The veteran Italian rider made it an astonishing 11 top-flight victories since the end of May when Too Darn Hot (Sussex Stakes) and Stradivarius (Goodwood Cup) won during the week.

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Now Dettori is set to once again team up with Advertise on who he landed the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.

The partnership subsequently chased home O’Brien’s Ten Sovereigns in the July Cup and Advertise is a general 3-1 favourite to go one better than that on Sunday.

Europe’s Group One weekend feature is off at 2.47 Irish-time and the last two winners of the race, Brando (2017) and Polydream last year, are among a field of 15.

Transferred

O’Brien’s sole win in the race came 18 years with King Charlemagne.

The ex-Andre Fabre-trained Le Brivido was runner-up in the 2017 French 2,000 Guineas when it was run at Deauville. He has yet to win in four starts since transferred to O’Brien.

After finishing out of the money in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot over a mile he dropped back to sprinting four days later when fifth to Blue Point in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.

O’Brien has three hopefuls for Saturday’s Group Two Lillie Langtry Stakes on the final day of Goodwood.

Moore teams up with South Sea Pearl who won the Vinnie Roe Stakes on her last start, a race in which Flowering Peach was fourth. She will be ridden by O'Brien's former apprentice, Sean Levey.

The Stanerra Stakes winner Peach Tree completes Ballydoyle’s team in a race where the Lancashire Oaks 1-2, Enbihaar and Dramatic Queen, also line up.

Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor

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