O’Brien looking forward to getting Great Barrier Reef back on track
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Thu 27 Aug 2026
Great Barrier Reef will return to action on Saturday when the Coventry Stakes hero runs in the Heider Family Stables Round Tower Stakes over six furlongs at the Curragh.
While he has been off the track for 74 days since beating the subsequently consistent Adaay Of Scarlett at Royal Ascot, he was declared to run in the Prix Morny last weekend.
A late scratch at Deauville on the morning of the race, trainer Aidan O’Brien is looking forward to seeing him back in action with the possibility of him progressing to the Middle Park at Newmarket.
“He was ready to run in France last week, but he just wasn’t quite right,” said O’Brien.
“The plan was, given he’d had three quite quick runs early in the season, to give him a break through the summer and bring him back for the big races in the autumn.
“We’ve been thinking of the Middle Park for him and we just thought it was quite a long time between runs if he hadn’t run since the Coventry, so we’ve just been trying to get another run into him.
“We’re not sure what his best trip is yet, we’ll see as we go along, but he could stay a bit further.”
Ger Lyons has declared Livenka, an absentee from the Lowther at York last week due to a change in the ground and that could be the case again.
“They are telling me there’s a load of rain coming and if the ground goes Livenka has the Dick Poole (at Salisbury) next week or Kempton the following weekend, but I’d rather keep her at home,” Lyons told Racing TV.
O’Brien’s So Lovely is likely to be well fancied in the Newtownanner Stud Irish EBF Stakes having broken her duck recently at Leopardstown.
By Wootton Bassett out of the multiple Group One winner Love, she holds big race entries later in the season.
“So Lovely is improving with every race and she did it nicely the last day,” said O’Brien.
“Exceptionally and her ran against each other earlier in the season, both have come on since they last met so it will be interesting.
“So Lovely looked more at home over a mile and given her pedigree you’d think she’d improve the further she goes.”
In the Snow Fairy Fillies Stakes, O’Brien is hoping a possible change in the ground will help spark Drop Dead Gorgeous back to life.
Gleneagles’ half-sister won on debut but has largely been disappointing since.
“Nothing has really come to light with her, we’ll just see what happens, if the rain does come and the ground goes soft we’ll see if that makes a difference to her,” he said.
Garden Party, a daughter of three-time Group One winner Roly Poly, also runs.
“She won the last day which was her first run back in a long time so we’re hoping she’ll run a nice race,” said O’Brien.
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