Racing: For your benefit The Irish Times started punching below the belt at yesterday's open day at Ballydoyle. Aidan O'Brien didn't see it coming. Or maybe he did and just couldn't believe it.

"Aidan, on this day last year you posed for a picture holding both High Chaparral and Hawk Wing. If the same thing happened again, which two would you pick this time?"

The young maestro's eyes ascended to heaven. When they returned, they helped to make up a serious "you cannot be serious" face. John Magnier and Michael Tabor pay millions for such information. All The Irish Times did was to get outside a free breakfast.

"Er, I think that was just luck last year." But the media's right to stick its nose in would not be denied. We persevered. Or rather the photographers did.

"Which horses should we take your picture with, Aidan?" The inference was clear. Only the ones that count now, young man. No scrubbers allowed. You know: a picture for posterity before they start cleaning up in Derbys and Guineas throughout the world. And game as a pebble O'Brien bit the bullet.

Three names were mentioned: The Derby favourite Brian Boru, the Guineas favourite Hold That Tiger and this week's Derby gamble Alberto Giacometti.

But Aidan has only two hands.

"Which two Aidan?" "God I don't know." "Whichever two you like. I'm really not sure. Tell you what lads. You pick!" And so it was that Alberto was left in his box while Brian Boru and Hold That Tiger posed in the middle of the magnificent new "Giant's Causeway" stable block. If you want to believe that's significant go right ahead. But just remember who did the picking.

Making it to the new 24 box yard alone is proof enough of talent in the world's most formidable stable of racehorses.

Last year's double Derby and Breeders' Cup winner High Chaparral lives next to Hawk Wing, last year's nearly horse who must be sick of the sight of his neighbour. Just feet away is Brian Boru and the other candidates for Classic glory this time round.

"These are 24 of the best, or what we think are the best," said O'Brien. The elaborate security at the gates of Ballydoyle suddenly made sense, even if they had some of us involuntarily spouting excuses for out of date car tax.

Such a high class team of older horses, along with Milan and Black Sam Bellamy among others, is a new departure for O'Brien but he insists the real value of the move won't be seen until next year.

"It will hopefully give the three years a chance to ease off rather than be on the go throughout the year," he said. But which Classic prospect might be too valuable by the end of the season for that not even to be considered.

Hold That Tiger appears the clear stable choice for the 2,000 Guineas but while O'Brien is confident of him getting a mile and a quarter, a mile and a half could be a different story.

Instead Brian Boru and Alberto Giacometti, both Group One winning sons of Sadler's Wells, could find themselves competing for a trip to Epsom.

"They haven't worked together but every horse here works off the same weight and there is sectional timing for every furlong. Both are working comfortably over seven furlongs and there is just a fraction of a second between them," O'Brien revealed.

The obvious query as to which had that fraction in hand was met with a smile and a reply: "I'll let you make your own mind up." However, he added: "Sunday will tell us a lot. Alberto runs in the Ballysax and because of the entry mix-up Brian Boru will work. In a way it is good because it allows Mick (Kinane) ride both. We will treat the work like a race and compare times and everything else."

Other Classic prospects include Tomahawk who is likely to be aimed at the Prix Fontainbleau at Longchamp ahead of a try at the French Guineas. "He got a little unbalanced going into the dip at Newmarket last year so the course in France should be more suitable," said O'Brien who admitted last year's sickness in the yard means there are more unexposed types ready to be unveiled. "Solskjaer is a horse we like, Galileo's brother Atticus is another and there is a colt called Middlemarch that's worth mentioning too," he said.

Quarter Moon's sister Yesterday will be aimed at the 1,000 Guineas, Milan could end up in Cup races and there is a fleet of blue-blooded juveniles starting to gather steam. And just for the record, Alberto Giacometti later came out for photographs on his own. It's all to play for.

Brian Boru: "The entry mix-up for Sunday's Ballysax means he will work after racing at Leopardstown. I hope we are let use the stalls and then we can compare times and so on with the Ballysax. He has done everything we've asked him to do and we hope he is going to be a Derby horse."

Hold That Tiger: "The piece of work he did at the Curragh has done him a lot of good. He is a big powerful horse with a lot of pace and it was probably my fault he missed the break in the Breeders' Cup. We were training him to come out slowly and settle. All being well the 2,000 Guineas is the plan."

Alberto Giacometti: "He will run in the Ballysax on Sunday. Last year he was showing a lot of pace at home until he pulled muscles. By the time he came back he hadn't done much but he still won his maiden over seven furlongs and nine days later won a Group One in France on heavy ground. It was a huge achievement."

High Chaparral: "You would love to think he might be an Arc horse in the second half of the year. Off the cuff I said a while ago I would like to start him in the Lockinge and those comments can come back to bite. But you would think a straight mile with a bit of give would be lovely and he is a hardy customer mentally."

Hawk Wing: "Like High Chaparral he has done very well physically and we are just hoping he gets the fast ground he likes. Without the other fellah he would have been an 11-length Derby winner last year. He he has a choice of the Lockinge or the Tattersalls Gold Cup to start off in."

Statue Of Liberty: "He was a very fast two-year-old but he had problems early in the spring and the earliest he will be back is the Irish Guineas. He's a gorgeous looking horse and if he doesn't make the Guineas or Ascot he could take the Mozart route over six furlongs."