O'Brien has Hunting Horn primed for Belmont Derby

ELMONT, N.Y. – In the three runnings of the Belmont Derby in which he has participated, trainer Aidan O’Brien has a win, a second, and a third from five starters.

Saturday, O’Brien is back for another crack at the Grade 1, $1.2 million Belmont Derby with Hunting Horn, who is coming off an eye-catching 4 1/2-length victory in the Group 3 Hampton Court Stakes on June 21 at Royal Ascot.

Hunting Horn drew post 4 in a field of nine 3-year-olds entered Wednesday for Saturday’s Belmont Derby, one of five graded stakes on an 11-race card that begins at 1:30 p.m.

Hunting Horn may have beat Group 3 horses in the Hampton Court, but his previous form was flattered by the results of last Saturday’s Group 1 Irish Derby, in which Latrobe and Rostropovich ran 1-2.

Hunting Horn defeated Latrobe in an April maiden race. In the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club on June 3 at Chantilly, Hunting Horn finished sixth, beaten 2 1/4 lengths, while Rostropovich finished ninth. That race was run over soft turf.

T.J. Comerford, the traveling assistant to O’Brien, believes Hunting Horn, as a son of Camelot, will appreciate firm ground as several of his progeny did at Royal Ascot.

“They seem to like the hard ground, which is good, unusually good,” Comerford said.

O’Brien won the Belmont Derby in 2016 with Deauville. Last year, Homesman and Whitecliffsofdover finished third and seventh, respectively.

Ryan Moore, who has never ridden at Belmont Park, is named to ride Hunting Horn.

Hunting Horn was one of two European-based horses entered in the Derby. Kingstar, a son of Evasive who has won 2 of 3 starts but has yet to run in a group race, is the other.

The Derby field, from the rail out: Channel Cat, Encumbered, Analyze It, Hunting Horn, Maraud, Kingstar, Catholic Boy, Hawkish, and My Boy Jack.

The Derby will be televised on Fox Sports 2 in a one-hour broadcast from 6-7 p.m. Eastern that also will include the Grade 2 Suburban.