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Aidan O'Brien considers Triple Crown for Saxon Warrior

Donnacha O'Brien riding Saxon Warrior  win the QIPCO 2000 Guineas Stakes at Newmarket
Image: Donnacha O'Brien riding Saxon Warrior win the QIPCO 2000 Guineas Stakes at Newmarket

Aidan O'Brien has raised the possibility of Saxon Warrior being aimed at the Triple Crown.

An impressive winner of the 2000 Guineas, he will now head to the Investec Derby next month.

If all goes well there it will be off to Doncaster for the oldest Classic of them all, the St Leger, in a quest the Coolmore team so very nearly achieved with Camelot in 2012.

O'Brien watched the race on a computer in a hotel room in America as he was with Mendelssohn in his failed bid in the Kentucky Derby.

"We were watching it from afar but it was unbelievable," O'Brien told ITV Racing.

"Donnacha (O'Brien) has ridden him in all his work so he knew what he was able to do. He knew the horse better than I did.

"The lads (owners) always had it in their heads he would go for the Guineas and Derby. Donnacha was very happy, too, so I think that is what everybody is thinking next.

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"The Triple Crown has to be on our minds, if he wins the Derby that would be the obvious thing to do but I haven't been told yet."

O'Brien confirmed that Ryan Moore would be back on board at Epsom in his role as number one rider.

Meanwhile, O'Brien felt the sloppy dirt conditions in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs were against Mendelssohn.

The UAE Derby winner was attempting to become the first European horse to win the Classic but torrential rain made the surface atrocious.

After receiving a hefty bump coming out of the stalls Mendelssohn and Ryan Moore were always on the back foot and he eventually trailed home in last.

"We learned a lot, we prepared for normal dirt racing," O'Brien told ITV Racing.

"Everyone was of the opinion that if you didn't get a good start your race is over in those conditions..

"Because of the bad kickback when it rains it is demoralising for a horse.

"American horses would have trained on it before but Ryan even said when he cantered to the start he was uncomfortable because it was coming up underneath him. It was a total extreme and we weren't prepared for that.

"If we were in that situation again we might be a little more prepared.

"I think we are thinking of the (Breeders' Cup Classic) so it looks like a break now before two preps, wherever they may be,

and then hopefully back for the Classic."

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