O'Brien seeking historic second straight win in Man o' War

by Brisnet.com

In 53 runnings, the Grade 1 Man o' War has been won by the same trainer in

consecutive years six times, most recently by Christophe Clement in 2009 and

2010 with Gio Ponti. On Saturday, trainer Aidan O'Brien will attempt to become

the first foreign-based trainer to achieve the feat when he sends out

four-year-old Treasure Beach in the 1 3/8-mile turf race.

Last year, O'Brien sent Group 1 Irish Derby winner Cape Blanco from his

Ballydoyle training base in Ireland to win the Man o' War and deny Gio Ponti his

third straight victory in the race. It was the beginning of a championship

campaign for Cape Blanco, who made separate trips to the United States later in

the year to add wins in the Grade 1 Arlington Million and Grade 1 Joe Hirsch

Turf Classic Invitational en route to Eclipse honors for champion male turf

horse.

"Cape Blanco's success certainly encouraged us to come back and have another

go with Treasure Beach," O'Brien said via email. "Like Cape Blanco, he's an

Irish Derby winner by Galileo with a great disposition, and he seems to have the

tactical speed required for the North American style of racing."

In 2011, Treasure Beach, who races for owners Mrs. Fitri Hay, Derrick Smith,

Mrs. John Magnier and Michael Tabor, has made two previous trips to North

America, winning the Grade 1 Secretariat at Arlington Park and finishing third

in the Grade 1 Canadian International in October at Woodbine. In two 2012

starts, he was fourth in the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic in March at Meydan

Racecourse and ninth in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup in April at Sha Tin

in Hong Kong.

"He was drawn very wide in Sha Tin, which certainly didn't help, and,

although he won the Secretariat Stakes on yielding ground, I have no doubt that

he's better on a faster surface," O'Brien noted.

While the horseman did not rule out the possibility of Treasure Beach making

additional cross-Atlantic journeys later in the year, the trainer said what Cape

Blanco accomplished in 2011 might have been a once-in-a-lifetime feat.

"What Cape Blanco achieved was truly remarkable and may never be repeated,"

O'Brien said. "We'll just see how Treasure Beach gets on at Belmont and then

take it from there."

In addition to Clement, the other trainers who have won back-to-back editions

of the Man o' War are Elliott Burch (Fort Marcy [1970]; Run the Gantlet [1971]),

John Russell (Effervescing [1976]; Majestic Light [1977]), Joseph Cantey

(Majesty's Prince [1983-84]), Pat Kelly (Solar Splendor [1991-92]) and Jonathan

Sheppard (With Anticipation [2001-02]).

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