Aidan O'Brien: 'worst ground of season' meant Wembley had to miss Futurity

Aidan O'Brien said it was a very easy decision to take hot favourite Wembley out of the Vertem Futurity Trophy as Ryan Moore came in after winning an earlier race at Doncaster on Lipizzaner and said it was the worst ground he had encountered all season.

Wembley was O'Brien's sole representative in the final Group 1 of the season in Britain, so he was unable to equal Sir Henry Cecil's record of ten victories in the race, which was won by the Jim Bolger-trained Mac Swiney.

O'Brien said: "Ryan came in after riding in an earlier race and said it was the worst ground he rode on all season. When he told me that it was a no-brainer, we had to take him out."

O'Brien won the Group 1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud with Van Gogh and in the early hours of the morning watched his former inmate Sir Dragonet beat his current one Armory in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley.

Reflecting on the race, the trainer said: "We knew that when Sir Dragonet got a flat track over a mile and a quarter with a strong pace he would be well suited. He handles easy ground very well too so everything was in his favour.

"Everything suited Armory too, apart from the ground. When the rain came we were very worried. He wants good fast ground. When he ran on heavy ground in France last year he couldn't cope. He goes for the McKinnon Stakes now and then on to Hong Kong if he gets accepted."

On his main Melbourne Cup hope Tiger Moth, he added: "Everybody is very happy with Tiger Moth since he's arrived in Australia and hopefully everything will go well from now until the race."

Did you know you can bet via the Racing Post mobile app/website? Simply sign in with your favourite bookmaker via the Accounts button and then bet direct from our racecards