Joseph O'Brien: 'He's looked a bit special at home - and it could be straight to Royal Ascot now'

He has trained 30 Group or Grade 1 winners by the tender age of 30, as well as getting his hands on not one but two Melbourne Cups, and now Joseph O'Brien could have a proper Arc contender in Al Riffa. 

The giant son of Wootton Bassett got closer to last year's unbeaten Arc winner Ace Impact than anything else when going down by three-quarters of a length in the Group 2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at Deauville in August. We didn't see him afterwards after a late setback ruled him out of the Irish Champion Stakes for which he was a leading fancy. 

But Al Riffa is back and ready to make up for lost time at four by all accounts. He is VIP material at Owning Hill and will make his eagerly awaited comeback in the Prix Ganay on Sunday.