Latrobe given green light for St Leger test by confident Joseph O’Brien
The Irish Derby winner will be chancing his arm at a new trip in the Classic but connections believe he's up to it
JOSEPH O'BRIEN believes stable star Latrobe is capable of big things in next week's St Leger.
The trainer's Irish Derby winner boasts some of the best three-year-old form this season and will bid to top it all off with victory in the Doncaster Classic.
O'Brien is no stranger to big-race successes, having trained Rekindling to win last year's Melbourne Cup - and he thinks Latrobe is more than capable of capturing the St Leger prize.
The son of Camelot showed just how good he is when winning the Irish Derby back in June, and the trainer believes the extra two furlongs will play to his strengths.
However, he'll need to bounce back from a disappointing flop in the Juddmonte International last time, where he was unable to land a blow.
"It was a mile and a quarter last time and he had options in Australia later in the year. We were not sure if he's a horse who wanted 12 furlongs or whether he'd be better going back to 10. It was kind of a fact-finding mission," said O'Brien.
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"Obviously he had the easier option of going for the Voltigeur with a penalty but he didn't run too badly in the Juddmonte and he probably was a bit positive in a race where you wanted to be settled a bit further back.
"He was staying on and obviously we're stepping him back up in trip at Doncaster. He's not from a stout family by any means but we're quite hopeful he'll get the trip."
O'Brien feels his father's contender is one of the main dangers: "I suppose Kew Gardens had a great run in France and ran very well in the Voltigeur so he's kind of the obvious one but the British team are always strong and I don't think this year is any different.
"Obviously it's a highly-competitive race but he's an Irish Derby winner and he's entitled to be in the line-up.
"I'd like to think Donnacha (O'Brien) will ride him, he's riding very well and gave Latrobe a fantastic ride in the Irish Derby. He's top class."
Despite having trained Rekindling to victory for Latrobe's owners, the Irish Derby winner is not certain to travel to the Melbourne Cup.
"It's a big ask for a three-year-old colt to go to Melbourne and it's not a decision we'll take lightly. Unless we're very happy with him and he runs well in the Leger he might go but it is far from set in stone," said O'Brien.
"He's not very similar to Rekindling. Latrobe is a big, powerful horse and he doesn't have the kind of stamina that Rekindling was assured of as he was from a stout family and had won over a mile-six before going there."