Tom Segal backs Joseph O'brien to match Aidan O'Brien
Tom Segal has put joseph o'brien on the same path as Aidan O'Brien ahead of Royal Ascot, saying he believes the younger trainer will be as good as his father. He also expects Puturhandstogether to attract support in the Ascot Stakes.
Segal's Royal Ascot call
“I think Joseph O'Brien is absolutely brilliant and he's going to be as good as his dad. And that is saying a lot. I think he is just an amazingly good trainer,” Segal said on the Racing Post's Good Morning Royal Ascot show.
He backed up that view with a run of staying handicap results that has already put Joseph's name into the frame at Royal Ascot. Segal pointed to the second, third and fourth in the Ascot Stakes last year, along with wins in the Chester Cup and Irish Cesarewitch.
Puturhandstogether and the market
Segal was making the case for Puturhandstogether in the Ascot Stakes, where the JP McManus-owned five-year-old arrives after winning the 2025 Fred Winter. The horse was available at 6-1, but Segal predicted he would go off at 4-1.
“I'm a Puturhandstogether fan, although I wonder whether he will really get the two and a half miles and that's the thing that really worries me. He started favourite for the Chester Cup from stall 18 and that's unheard of. Everything went wrong there, but they must think he's incredibly well handicapped. I think he'll be backed,” he said.
Joseph O'Brien's staying record
Segal said Joseph O'Brien's staying record goes well beyond one race. He listed two Melbourne Cups, a Stayers' Hurdle win with an 11-year-old, and two near-misses in the King George as reasons he rates him so highly.
“His dad had every single Coolmore horse going. This guy has got Melbourne Cups, the Oaks, he's winning everything under the sun. He should have won the Grand National, he won the Stayers' Hurdle with an 11-year-old. He was beaten a short head for two King Georges on the trot. The guy is absolutely brilliant and he's got a terrific record in staying handicaps,” Segal said.
The immediate angle for Ascot is the money. Puturhandstogether already has one big win on the page, and Segal believes the market will shorten him again if the support he expects shows up before the race.
