'It sounded peculiar, didn't it?' - Aidan O'Brien counters John Gosden comments as racing's spikiest rivalry tees up a Gold Cup for the ages

The timing is impeccable. Just a few short days since John Gosden reignited racing's prickliest rivalry, guess who trains the top two in the market for the Gold Cup? It's only Aidan O'Brien and the godfather of Clarehaven himself. The Lord works in mischievous ways. 

Speaking to Lee Mottershead for an interview that appeared in last Sunday's Racing Post, Gosden voluntarily brought up the Ballydoyle dominance of the Derby, calling it a "problem" for racing, before delving deeper into the tactical elements of O'Brien's operation and the implications of him running five or six in the race. 

He did something similar after Ombudsman won last year's Prince of Wales's Stakes, stressing that the Irish Champion Stakes wouldn't be an option as he didn't think the horse would "appreciate running against multiple entries from one stable on a track with a short straight."