Mendelssohn victory gives rare insight into O'Brien's genius

In the aftermath of Mendelssohn's win in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, Aidan O'Brien was asked how he had turned a horse who trailed home last in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster into an international Group 1 winner in a matter of seven weeks. The question prompted Coolmore partner Michael Tabor to interject: "Don't tell him!"

Well might Coolmore look to keep the secrets of O'Brien's training regime all to themselves. His campaign keeps reaching new levels of magnificence – he now stands on 27 top-level wins for 2017, with Bobby Frankel's old world record of 25 receding into the distance and the definition of brilliance being rewritten with each passing day.

It can be hard to understand just what it is that makes O'Brien such a master of his trade. The soft-spoken 48-year-old is quick to deflect praise onto others, peppering his post-race interviews with shoutouts to his team at Ballydoyle, to his riders and to his employers at Coolmore.

For those of us who make a living out of attempting to interpret brilliance, it can make for a difficult time: O'Brien's reluctance to talk about himself means his genius, and it must be called that, remains stubbornly hard to pin down.

Yet in Mendelssohn's one-length victory in the Juvenile Turf we were offered tantalising clues to help us understand what it is that makes O'Brien a titan of his sport. Remember: this is a colt who was beaten 16 and a half lengths on debut; who was last of seven, beaten 34 lengths, in the Champagne Stakes less than two months ago.

Mendelssohn: another top-level winner for Aidan O'BrienCredit: Edward Whitaker

"We always thought a lot of him, but the first run he was very green," said O'Brien.

"On his second run Ryan [Moore] rode him and he was very green, we were a little bit worried about how green he was – and it was the same thing at Doncaster, very green. So we put a pair of blinkers on to see if it would get rid of that greenness and it did. In his work he grew another leg."

A second-placed run at 50-1 in the Dewhurst behind stablemate US Navy Flag revealed to the world O'Brien had managed to transform Mendelssohn into a serious Group 1 contender.

Suddenly ambitions were raised – this son of Scat Daddy was being considered as a Kentucky Derby contender. As such, he was entered in the dirt Breeders' Cup Juvenile, with the Juvenile Turf as a second preference option. Yet O'Brien, on reflection, went for the turf race, despite still dreaming of the twin spires at Churchill Downs.

"We knew he had a real American dirt pedigree but we didn't want to stop the progression, so that's why we left him on the grass as maybe he wasn't ready for the dirt," said O'Brien.

Expressed in O'Brien's self-effacing manner these are two simple decisions: a bit of headgear here, a change of target there. Yet taken together they have led to a Grade 1 win at the Breeders' Cup with a horse who couldn't beat a rival home seven weeks ago.

You've got to feel sorry for other trainers, really. The other day John Gosden, stood in the barns behind Del Mar, joshed about trying to strangle O'Brien after he won the Racing Post Trophy.

"One way or another we've got to get rid of him," he joked. You can see where he's coming from.

Of course, O'Brien is not merely deflecting when he heaps praise on his team, who under his direction bring about astonishing improvement in horses and then keep them firing at a high level run after run. And in Moore he has a jockey of rare brilliance too. Mendelssohn's victory was no bad example of that.

Having been subjected to a rough-and-tumble experience in the preceding Juvenile Fillies Turf on Happily, who broke poorly and couldn't get a run at this notoriously tricky track – Del Mar's backstretch has seen more scraps than Madison Square Garden – Moore was taking no chances on Mendelssohn, who burst from the stalls like a coiled spring, tracking Sands Of Mali throughout before taking up the lead just over half a furlong out and quickly stretching into an unassailable lead.

It was a fine, no-nonsense ride that allowed his colt's talent to do the business, although Moore, like his boss, was never likely to avail himself of the opportunity for self-praise.

"In these full fields breaks always are important," he said. "The very same things can happen in 14-runner races round Lingfield – they're sharp tracks and you always need draw and luck."

Lines Of Battle (Ryan Moore) wins the UAE DerbyDubai 30.3.13 Pic: Edward WhitakerCredit: Edward Whitaker

Moore described riding in the Kentucky Derby in 2013, when he finished seventh on O'Brien's Lines Of Battle, as the best day's racing he'd ever experienced and he may now have another live contender for one of the world's most famous races.

"He's a big, strong colt and obviously he's bred for the dirt," he said.

"He's a very talented horse, he travelled round there great. He's a good horse, he ran a good race in the Dewhurst, and he's just been a bit slow to get the message in his races. He's still very much a work in progress."

As if more evidence were needed, the fates of Europe's other contenders on the opening day of Breeders' Cup 2017 were very much testament to O'Brien's achievements: aside from September, third in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, they washed out, succumbing to a mixture of bad luck, tough draws, poor breaks and the sheer quality of the domestic opposition arrayed against them.