Aidan O'Brien 2023 Qatar Goodwood Festival stable tour

Aidan O’Brien is enjoying another phenomenal season, with his list of accolades already including English Derby, Irish Derby, Irish Oaks, Irish 2,000 Guineas and Coral-Eclipse glory.

The master of Ballydoyle now seeks to add to his tally of 23 winners at the Qatar Goodwood Festival with a small, but select team heading to the Sussex Downs.

O’Brien, who was speaking on a call organised by Goodwood Racecourse, has Paddington spearheading his team as he attempts to capture the meeting’s highlight, the Qatar Sussex Stakes.

Here's what O'Brien had to say about his powerful squad.

Race: Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup.

If the ground was nice then he could run in this event.

Race: Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup.

We’re thinking that she could run here. She loves that ease in the ground. She handles other ground perfectly well which doesn’t bother her, but she is much better with an ease in the ground where it hinders other horses. It definitely doesn’t hinder her.

She came out of the Curragh very well. Ryan was very happy with her and felt that she won very easily.

Since the Al Shaqab Goodwood has been upgraded to a Group One, it’s been brilliant. It’s a very prestigious race and a very unique race. Obviously two miles at Goodwood is very different. It’s a difficult race to win, but we always try and have a horse good enough to win it.

She is a filly we really fancied for the Ascot Gold Cup. She ran a good race, but we felt she came out of it very well and we were very impressed with her at the Curragh the last day. We know that she loves a little ease and when she does get some ease, she grows another leg.

Race: Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes.

She is a possible for the Lillie Langtry, depending on how she comes out of the Irish Oaks. She ran a big race at the Curragh over a mile and a half and we felt she was going to run a big race the time before over a mile and six at Leopardstown but she just ran into traffic.

Race: Qatar Nassau Stakes.

The plan is for her to go. We’ve been very happy with her since Newmarket, but we felt maybe dropping back to a mile, we made too much use of her and it didn’t suit her,

This has been the plan for a while even though we took in the Falmouth Stakes last time out.

Blue Rose Cen and Nashwa look two very good fillies. It looks a top renewal of the race.

Race: Qatar Sussex Stakes.

Ryan [Moore, jockey] always thought he had a lot of pace and it was never a problem going back to a mile. We were delighted with him in the Coral-Eclipse and we always had this race on his programme.

He won his first two starts this year on soft ground so we were not really sure about going to the Curragh on fast ground, but he handled it with no problem at all and it was the same at Royal Ascot. He looks very versatile really.

He is just thriving I suppose from race to race. He is doing very well and is putting on weight with every run. He is much heavier for the Coral-Eclipse than he was for Royal Ascot which is very unusual. He thrives on his work. Everyone is very happy with him.

The Sussex Stakes is a very prestigious race which has stood the test of time. For a horse to go to stud, it is very prestigious to have won the Sussex. It will be the first time for the three-year-olds to meet the older milers which makes it even more interesting really.

He has improved with every run which is very unusual. We’re not looking for it at home, but every time he runs, he seems to improve. Physically, he is doing very well.

We always like the race are as competitive as they can be as we can then judge horses off each and we can know where we should be going next. The more competitive all those big races are the better really.

Alfred Munnings, beaten-favourite in last year’s Chesham Stakes may have run his last race for O’Brien. He is reportedly set to be sold to Hong Kong.

Bolshoi Ballet and Adelaide River, who both hold entries in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes, will bypass Goodwood.

Air Commander, Henry Adams, Mountain Bear or Unquestionable could run in the Vintage Stakes. No decision made on who will run yet.

Aesop’s Fables and The Antarctic not ready to run again yet.

Wayne Lordan may not ride again this season. He was injured following his fall on the ill-fated San Antonio in the Irish Derby and O’Brien confirmed that a return to action remains some way off.

Better Wi-Fi might be needed in the County Tipperary area. O’Brien, smartly dressed in a shirt and tie for the zoom call, dropped off the call twice and froze on more than one occasion as the Ballydoyle Wi-Fi seemed to let him down!