Puerto Rico is likely to line up in the G1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 2, with Aidan O'Brien saying it is very possible the colt will head there while Gstaad is aimed at France.
O'Brien said Puerto Rico and Gstaad are both in his plans at the moment, but that the decision could split the pair between Newmarket and the French equivalent of the 2000 Guineas. Puerto Rico has won his last three starts, including the G2 Champagne Stakes, the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and the G1 Criterium International, while Gstaad brings a stronger juvenile record on paper after wins in the G2 Coventry Stakes and the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. He was also second in the Prix Morny, the National Stakes and the Dewhurst Stakes.
The Newmarket picture is not fixed, though. Gstaad and Albert Einstein would need to be supplemented for £30,000 each to take part in the 2000 Guineas, and O'Brien said he would wait to see how Albert Einstein comes out of his run before a final call is made. Albert Einstein finished third in the G3 Greenham Stakes on Saturday and has not won in two starts at three, after also finishing sixth in the Gladness Stakes at the end of March. He won the G3 Marble Hill Stakes in 2025, but O'Brien said the colt remains under consideration for either a return to sprinting or a trip back to a mile.
That leaves the trainer juggling more than one leading Classic path at once. Precise could also make Newmarket, and if she does, Diamond Necklace would go to France, giving O'Brien another two-way choice to settle in the coming days. For now, Puerto Rico looks the likeliest of his group to stay on the Newmarket route, with Gstaad the one most likely to be diverted across the Channel.
