'He gets the trip really well' - Aidan O'Brien on his leading Derby contenders

Superstar trainer Aidan O'Brien joined the Racing Post's What A Shout show for an exclusive chat ahead of Irish Guineas weekend at the Curragh, which gets under way on Friday.

The Ballydoyle master gave us his thoughts on his four runners in the Irish 1,000 Guineas on Sunday and also looked forward to later on in the season with Epsom on the horizon. Here's what he said about his big Derby fancies – but watch the video below for more top insight.

Cazoo Derby (4.30 Epsom, June 4): full racecard and betting

Stone Age

Odds:5-2
Last race:Won Leopardstown Derby Trial, May 8

He won a maiden first time, and won nicely, and the plan was always to go to Leopardstown with him the next time. We were very happy with his run at Leopardstown. He has a lot of experience – he raced a lot in very high-quality company last year. That was always the plan, to run in the two races on the way to the Derby, and everything so far seems to be well with him since Leopardstown.

Changingoftheguard

Odds:8-1
Last race:won Chester Vase, May 4

He's a very straightforward, uncomplicated horse and gets the trip really well. He won his maiden over a mile and a quarter and we thought that he would step up when he went up further and that's the way it looked at Chester.

Changingoftheguard: winner of the Chester VaseCredit: Edward Whitaker

United Nations

Odds:12-1
Last race:Won Lingfield Derby Trial, May 7

He ran first time at Epsom and he was just caught back a little bit in a slowly run race. He was finishing very well. It looked like a step up in trip and his next run that he would come on a lot and that's what he looked to do. He got the trip very well at Lingfield and we were happy to make the running but we didn't have to because one of Charlie's horses made it a good strong pace and that suited him well. He's very straightforward and uncomplicated, and we couldn't be happier with his second run.

Star Of India

Odds:12-1
Last race:Won Dee Stakes, May 5

We always thought that he was going to stay well. He looked like a middle-distance horse last year and we just needed to start him somewhere. The Craven was a nice race to start him and we always felt a step up to a mile and a quarter would suit him. It'll be interesting to see when he steps up to a mile and a half what will happen. He has a lovely relaxed, lazy way of racing so he shouldn't overrace or do anything like that but there's every chance he could get the mile and a half. We won't know until we run him but we're very happy with him since.

And don't forget . . .

Luxembourg

He's still resting. The plan was that he would have a month or six weeks' rest, and that's what he's doing at the moment. Everything seems to be going to plan so far. We're looking at an autumn campaign with him.

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