O’Brien still aiming for Newmarket with Precise despite temperature scare

Aidan O’Brien is optimistic Precise will be fit to run in the Betfred 1000 Guineas after revealing his star three-year-old filly’s preparation has been interrupted in recent weeks by a spiked temperature.

The daughter of Starspangledbanner won four of her five juvenile starts, including Group Ones courtesy of the Moyglare Stud Stakes and the Fillies’ Mile, and she is the clear favourite for the first fillies’ Classic of the season at Newmarket on May 3.

But while she was one of the many stars on show as O’Brien sent a huge team of horses to work at the Curragh on Sunday morning, she engaged in only light work with a solitary stable companion.

“She’s in good form, she had a temperature two or three weeks ago and we had to just back off her and slowly pick her back up,” said the Ballydoyle handler.

“She hasn’t done a lot for the last couple of weeks and came today just as a day out – and if she comes out of today well, she’ll have plenty of time to be trained for the Guineas, as she was forward enough (before the raised temperature).

“Obviously I’m not sure (she’ll make the Guineas). When it happened we had to back off her and start again, but she had a good level of fitness and the next couple of weeks will tell us a lot. We’ll train her for Newmarket and see what’s going to happen.

“She only cantered up by herself today with a lead horse and they were very happy with her.”

The second-favourite for the 1000 Guineas is Precise’s stablemate Diamond Necklace, who rounded off an unbeaten two-year-old campaign with a top-level success in the Prix Marcel Boussac, and was on Sunday ridden by Ryan Moore, with the rider saying: “Diamond Necklace is in great shape.”

Diamond Necklace’s 10 galloping companions included Cheveley Park Stakes winner True Love and Composing, who looked every inch a top-class filly in the making last summer but subsequently disappointed twice behind Precise.

“Composing is a filly we fancied for the Moyglare last year and she was a little bit disappointing, but we think she’ll come back to what we thought she was going to be,” said O’Brien.

“True Love looks like she could get a mile. Being by No Nay Never we weren’t sure, but it looks like she could get it.”

Moore’s final ride of the morning was Amelia Earhart, who after four defeats broke her duck in some style at Leopardstown in October and appears a potential dark horse for some major prizes this term.

“I finished with Amelia Earhart, who is going to be a really nice middle-distance filly,” said Moore.

“She’s by Camelot and when she steps up to a mile and a half she’s going to be one to follow, I think.”

Amelia Earhart worked in a group that included the Epsom, Irish and Yorkshire Oaks winner and Arc runner-up Minnie Hauk, who continues to please her trainer ahead of her planned return at the Curragh in early May.

O’Brien said: “Minnie Hauk is in great form, we couldn’t be happier with her. We were thinking of coming back here for the Tattersalls Gold Cup and maybe she could run in the Mooresbridge Stakes before that.

“If the Tattersalls went well she could go to Ascot for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. We could keep her at a mile and a quarter until the end of the season when she could go back up to a mile and a half, that’s what we’re thinking. We’re very happy with how she’s done physically.

“She’s a very exciting four-year-old and what she did last year was exceptional. She could absolutely do anything this year really.”