Aidan O'Brien admits to trip uncertainty for 2000 Guineas colts

Aidan O'Brien acknowledges it is "possible" the mile of the Qipco 2000 Guineas will be too short for favourite Auguste Rodin.

O’Brien is also represented in the opening Classic of the season by Little Big Bear, who is second-favourite, as the Ballydoyle maestro bids to add to his record 10 victories in the Newmarket showpiece.

The 53-year-old last won the prize in 2019 with Magna Grecia and has never had more than four successive years without a victory in the race since he first struck with King Of Kings in 1998.

Auguste Rodin is considered a Triple Crown contender, with the Derby and the St Leger on the radar. He won his previous three starts, including the Futurity Trophy at Doncaster in October.

Like Little Big Bear, winner of the Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh, he will make his seasonal bow.

However, there are trip questions for both horses, with Little Big Bear untested beyond six and a half furlongs and Ryan Moore’s mount, Auguste Rodin, potentially finding a mile too sharp.

"It is possible that the mile will be too short for him," admitted O’Brien. "We don’t know really. We are happy with what he has done and what he is doing at the moment.

"He is a horse who has loads of class. We are going to learn a lot about him and he’s going to learn a lot. We are looking forward to him.

"He’s a horse who has always shown plenty of class in all his work from very early on. Ryan sat on him in February or March as a two-year-old and he loved him then. He was showing loads then and it is usually a good sign.

"I suppose we had to see what his work was like and if anyone wasn’t happy at any step along the road, then he might not have run in the Guineas. But everything is good."

O’Brien has no qualms about the pair taking each other on, as