Joseph O'Brien: Improving Altair can make an impact in Ribblesdale

Joseph O'Brien
19 June 2019

Joseph O'Brien will saddle five runners on day three of Royal Ascot

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Betfair Ambassador Joseph O'Brien will saddle five runners on day three of Royal Ascot and he is expecting Altair to make an impact at a big price in the Group 2 Ribblesdale...

"This galloping mile-and-a-half should really suit her and while she has plenty to find with the main protagonists, I'd be expecting her to show improvement. Hopefully she finds enough to make an impact in the finish."

- Joseph O'Brien on Altiar

Each-way chance for colt with good attitude

14:30 - Air Force Jet

Air Force Jet has always shown plenty of pace at home. We were delighted with his second at Naas on his debut and while he only won narrowly at Navan last time, I thought he did well there. He got a bit unbalanced coming down the hill and lost the lead, but he showed a great attitude to fight back and win by a neck. That experience should bring him on again and I think he has an each-way chance. His mother Wind Fire finished third to No Nay Never in this race back in 2013, so hopefully he'll enhance his family's record in the race!

Drying ground would be ideal

15:05 - Buckhurst

Buckhurst is a horse that has always shown up very well at home and it has been great to see him improve with each start so far. He was only just run out of it by Constantinople in the Gallinule Stakes and I'd be hopeful he can improve from that again. This looks a strong race, but the course and distance should suit him well. Any drying of the ground will be a help to him and I'd be hopeful he'll run well.

Track and distance fine with improvement expected

15:40 - Altair

Altair has done really well to win two of her three starts, as she is a filly that we always thought would need time and at least a mile-and-a-half to show what she can do. She was quite workmanlike in winning a conditions race at Gowran Park last time, but I think that was just her finding the nine-and-a-half furlongs to be too sharp. This galloping mile-and-a-half should really suit her and while she has plenty to find with the main protagonists, I'd be expecting her to show improvement. Hopefully she finds enough to make an impact in the finish.

Chunks of improvement needed

16:20 - Master Of Reality

Master Of Reality sprung a surprise when winning the Vintage Crop Stakes at Navan in April and ran well under a penalty in the Saval Beg Stakes at Leopardstown last time. He's a big price for this and needs to find a good chunk of improvement to trouble the leaders, but he has never raced beyond a mile-and-three-quarters, so the hope is that he'll improve enough for the longer trip to get involved, but it would be hard to be any more than hopeful.

Tough ask on first turf run

17:00 - Numerian

This is always a really competitive race and Numerian is our representative. He improved with each and every one of his six starts at Dundalk during the winter season, winning twice and running well in a Listed race on his most recent start. We have trained him with this race in mind since then, but this is so competitive that it would be hard to be anything but hopeful on what is his first start on turf.