Joseph O'Brien planning twin raid in bid to end Ireland's Cambridgeshire hoodoo
Joseph O'Brien is no stranger to breaking new ground and on Saturday he will try to do something only Tony Martin has managed in the last 56 years when he sends over Dance Jupiter and Raise You to contest the bet365 Cambridgeshire at Newmarket.
Since the Seamus McGrath-trained Tarqogan won the Cambridgeshire in 1965, Irish-trained horses have had a wretched record in the race with only Martin's She's Our Mare in 1999 winning for the visiting team.
O'Brien, who has sent over two of the last four winners of the Melbourne Cup, will be double-handed in the £120,000 event and revealed the lucrative prize had been on his mind for Dance Jupiter for quite a while.
bet365 Cambridgeshire Handicap card and betting
He said on Monday: "We think the Cambridgeshire will suit Dance Jupiter. Given that he came to himself last autumn and he doesn't mind some juice in the ground, it's a race we've had in mind for him.
"I thought that was a good run from him at Punchestown last week. He was coming back from a little break and he should come on for it. He seems to be in good form, although I don't think Irish horses are very well handicapped in England."
O'Brien added: "Raise You is a nice horse and I thought he ran very well at Galway. The Cambridgeshire has been the plan for him since then and the plan at the moment is for both horses to travel over for it."
O'Brien is also likely to be represented in the Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes by Velocidad, in a race that has gone to Irish-trained fillies for four of the last five years.
Velocidad lost her unbeaten record in the Prix Morny last time when only 11th of 14 behind Perfect Power but O'Brien said: "We will likely run Velocidad in the Cheveley Park. Things didn't fall her way in France the last day for one reason or another but she's a smart filly who won her first two starts and we think she's quite nice."
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