O'Brien saddles strong Derby team

Aidan O'Brien admits it can be hard to work out the pecking order of the Ballydoyle team after declaring seven horses for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh on Sunday.The handler has declared three of the six he ran at Epsom - Fame And Glory, Masterofthehorse and Golden Sword, while adding Byzantine, Drumbeat, Rockhampton and Hail Caesar to his formidable squad."With any of those big races you compete in, if you don't win it's always a bit of a disappointment but you can't win them all. The horses ran well and we're looking forward to the next day with them," he told RTE."Obviously there is not much between the horses that ran at Epsom and it's which ones come forward from there that is always a difficult thing to know."Some go back, some go forward and some stand still and usually at the races we find out. Sometimes you're surprised, sometimes you're disappointed and that's life."The Irish Derby is probably the most important three-year-old race over a mile and a half in Europe because all the good three-year-olds meet. If there are any question marks about Epsom, or France or anywhere else, it's always answered at the Curragh."Johnny Murtagh will ride Fame And Glory, while O'Brien gives a first Classic mount to his teenage son, Joseph, who has only ridden in public a handful of times, but will be on Byzantine on Sunday. Murtagh has a healthy respect for Sea The Stars as he links up with Fame And Glory for the first time since April's Ballysax Stakes.He said: "It's going to be a great race. I rode my horse last week and he felt like he had improved from Epsom. He's a solid, typical Ballydoyle improver. Sea The Stars is the champion and we all have to beat him."Everyone's there at the Irish Derby, the cards are there to be played and it all depends which horse has improved the most."