The fastest horse to grace the Ballydoyle gallops, Caravaggio, could be heading for October's $10 million Everest at Randwick after a royal appointment at Ascot this month.
Coolmore decided to sprint the unbeaten three-year-old this year, opening up the option of him taking their Everest slot.
Caravaggio is a group 1 winner in the Phoenix Stakes at The Curragh last year and also won the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot. Now he is a $2.10 chance in the Commonwealth Cup at this year's Royal Ascot meeting.
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Before his Phoenix win in August last year, Aidan O'Brien was stunned by his work, saying: "In his last piece of work he hit a top speed of 45 miles per hour – no horse in Ballydoyle has ever been able to do that."
He resumed last month, winning a group 3 at Naas and O'Brien was again glowing in his assessment, deciding to set the grey Scat Daddy colt for the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, with an open agenda after that.
"We said that we would come here and if everything went well we would go to Ascot for the Commonwealth Cup," O'Brien said following the Naas win.
"I've never seen a quicker horse and that's why we went this way with him. He's showed nothing to say he wouldn't get a mile. We worked him seven furlongs and the petrol gauge never shifted, but I was afraid that he was so quick that it would be the wrong thing to do. We could train him for a mile and go back, but we didn't want to lose the brilliance."
Caravaggio would have to remain unbeaten to come to Australia but there are other races under consideration, including the Nunthorpe Stakes, which is sponsored by Coolmore, and the Haydock Sprint Cup.
If he is to come, he would go into quarantine after those group 1s.
Ride to redemption
Jockey Padraig Beggy left Australia in disgrace a couple of years ago, but on Saturday he was meeting Queen Elizabeth after booting home outsider Wings Of Eagles in the English Derby at Epsom Downs.
Beggy served a year ban for his positive drug test to cocaine taken at the Kembla Grange barrier trials and returned home to Ireland, where a couple of mates were riding out at Ballydoyle for Aidan O'Brien. He got a job there and it led to the Derby, which was only his fifth winner in five years.
"I got into trouble and made a bad mistake and I had to put that behind me. I got knocked down and I had to come back fighting because I know I can ride a horse," Beggy said.
"I picked myself up and learnt my lesson and this proves that good things can happen after bad things. I've dreamed about this moment and, to be honest, I'd probably given up on it ever happening.
"Aidan has made this happen for me, he gave me the job when I came back to Ireland. When you sit on one of his horses, you've always got a chance, whatever the price is. I knew he was a good horse and lots of the jockeys down at the start said I was the pick in the paddock.
"No words can describe how this feels. It means the world to me and to my family and girlfriend who are watching. I've never experienced anything like it and I could certainly get used to it."
Beggy and Wings Of Eagles swept past favourite and stablemate Cliffs Of Moher and Frankel colt Cracksman to deliver O'Brien his sixth Derby win.
Eagle eyes at Eagle Farm
Australian Turf Club racing manager James Heddo and a delegation of board members visited Eagle Farm on Friday as part of investigations into infrastructure developments over the next 10 years.
The group inspected the more than 400 infield stables at Eagle Farm, which have been praised by trainers, to get an idea of how the room inside a racecourse can be used more effectively.
"It is something we might look at doing at Warwick Farm in time and we wanted to see the set-up and how it works," Heddo said. "The Brisbane Race Club have done a good job with the stables and it blends into the track very well and gives easy assess to it."
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