Aidan O'Brien has confirmed that Albert Einstein (Wootton Bassett) is an intended runner in the G3 Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.
Unbeaten in two starts as a juvenile, Albert Einstein was well beaten on his return to action in the Listed Gladness Stakes at the Curragh, before being mistakenly scratched from the 2,000 Guineas due to what was described by O'Brien as a “computer error”.
Connections still have the option of supplementing the highly-touted colt for the Newmarket Classic at a cost of £30,000, with it being hoped that a second appearance over seven furlongs at Newbury will help to inform that decision. O'Brien had previously suggested that the apple of his eye could revert to sprinting after meeting with the first defeat of his career at the Curragh.
“At the moment he's going [to Newbury],” the trainer said at Leopardstown on Wednesday.
“Obviously, if he goes to the English Guineas, we have to supplement him, and we want to be fairly sure if we are supplementing him.”
'The ground is just too quick'
Constitution Hill (Blue Bresil), meanwhile, will be a notable absentee from Saturday's high-class card at Newbury, with trainer Nicky Henderson deciding that the ground will be too quick for his former Champion Hurdle hero to appear in the G3 Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise Stakes.
“He's not going to run – the ground is just too quick,” said Henderson. “He's a big boy and there's quite a difference between good ground on the Flat and good jumping ground. It's significant.
“I know Newbury are aiming for good ground on Friday. It would be quicker by the time of his race on Saturday, but he wouldn't have even run if his race was on Friday. It's been bad luck – we've been suffering for the last month trying to run our National Hunt horses. The good thing was that the decision was not difficult.
“The Flat boys will love it, I'm sure, but he's a big, heavy horse. I'm not saying that he needs soft ground, but he'd need a lot of rain to run this weekend and it's not forthcoming, so there's no point in waiting. It's fairer to let everybody know.”
Considering future options for the fan favourite, Henderson added, “I'm having a look for a race. There's a couple of handicaps that he can run in. They are 0-100, so he'll be 1lb over. He can run in them, but he'd be the first to get balloted out.
“There's one next week [at Ripon]. The ground is already good, but I'm assuming that's the same as Newbury's good, which isn't good enough. There's not much rain around.
“It's sad. We're desperate to go and I appreciate that people want to see him. We want to run him just as much, but we can't take any chances. He will be having a break shortly. If we can't have a run now, I think it's better to get out and come back in the autumn as he's been on the go since September/October.”
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