Australia: Arc not agenda for dual Derby winner

 PICTURE: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Australia out as 20 remain in Arc

FREE EAGLE and Australia were the biggest names to be missing after 20 horses went forward for the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, following Tuesday morning's first forfeit stage.

Aidan O'Brien cut his considerable initial entry to just two names, with 2013 Derby hero Ruler Of The World and Chicquita both remaining in contention for Sunday's €5 million showpiece at Longchamp.

Taghrooda remains favourite with most firms and is one of three remaining British-trained entries, alongside St Leger winner Kingston Hill and Al Kazeem.

The home defence is set to be led by title holder Treve, who completed her preparation under Thierry Jarnet on a fog-bound piste des Aigles on Tuesday morning.

Trainer Criquette Head-Maarek said afterwards: "Thierry was very pleased with her. She worked 2,200 metres [1m3f] so a little further than before. She is coming on very well because before the Vermeille she was rusty."

Further French hopes rest with Ectot and the unbeaten Avenir Certain, while Ivanowe is set to represent Germany.

GALILEO'S TOP 20 BABIES 16 Of Them race winners

A Greater Force and Joseph O'Brien take Roscommon's third
(Healy Racing Photos)

A Greater Force (5/6 into 4/6) got the job done on start number three in the www.roscommonracecourse.ie Maiden.

The Ballydoyle colt had blinkers on for his previous third placing at Listowel but here he was without the head-gear. Joseph O'Brien needed to keep the son of Montjeu up to the task at hand from an early stage.

He mastered Beyond Intensity in the end by two and a half lengths.

"He has improved with each start," divulged Joseph.

"He is lazy and laid back but like I say he stepped up and hopefully he will keep stepping up. He still felt quite green throughout. He was off the bridle most of the race.

"He will probably improve when he gets gelded. He will make a nice staying horse in the future but he has a bit to come yet."

On yesterday's headline maker Ol' Man River, the champion jockey said: "I couldn't be happier with him. He is very pacey and he relaxes and he is a classy horse. I'd be more worried about him getting a mile and a half than him having enough pace for a mile." (DM & EM)

Chicquita: last year's Irish Oaks heroine changed hands for €6 million

 PICTURE: Alain Barr (racingpost.com/photos)

Chicquita could join Ruler in Arc field

RULER OF THE WORLD could be joined by €6 million filly Chicquita in Sunday's Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe after it emerged connections are leaning towards the big one in preference to her taking on her own sex in the Prix de l'Opera.

Chicquita finished runner-up in the Blandford Stakes two weeks ago on her first run since being purchased by Coolmore, and O'Brien has been pleased with her progress since.Trainer Aidan O'Brien, who confirmed dual Derby winner Australia would go to Ascot for the Qipco Champion Stakes, revealed last year's Irish Oaks heroine is likely to contest the Arc, for which she is as short as 20-1 with Betfred but more generally 33-1. Ruler Of The World is around a 14-1 shot.

He said: "Ruler Of The World and Chicquita look like the two for the Arc. Australia is fine and everything is going well. He will go to Ascot."

Chicquita's emergence into the Arc picture could be good news for Frankie Dettori, given Ruler Of The World is part-owned by his boss Sheikh Joaan. Dettori was on board when the colt won the Prix Foy. Joseph O'Brien rode Chicquita in the Blandford.

O'BRIEN TRIO SET FOR LONGCHAMP
29 Sep 2014

Seville: son of Galileo will stand at a fee of $6,000 in 2015

 PICTURE: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Group 1 winner Seville to stand in the US

 BY BLOODSTOCK WORLD STAFF11:18AM 28 SEP 2014 

AUSTRALIAN Group 1 winner Seville has been retired to stand at Heritage Stallions in the US and will command a fee of $6,000.

Heritage Stallions, based in Maryland, will be syndicating the son of Galileo.

Seville began his career in Europe with Coolmore and Aidan O'Brien. His only victory for O'Brien came in a Tipperary maiden, but he put up some mighty performances in defeat, finishing second to Casamento in the Racing Post Trophy and filling the same position in the Irish Derby and Grand Prix de Paris at three.

He was sold to Australia in 2012 and joined the stable of Lloyd Williams. He chased home stablemate Green Moon in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington before going one better in the top-flight Metropolitan at Randwick.

He was last seen finishing 12th behind Fiorente in last year's Melbourne Cup.

In total, the German-bred Seville won two of his 20 starts, amassing career earnings of more than £640,000.

The six-year-old is out of the Silver Hawk mare Silverskaya, who was a dual Group 3 winner in France for Jean-Claude Rouget.

We Advised Backing at 33/1 JFK And 50/1 OR Now as short as  6/1 & 7/1 Now

Ol' Man River (leading, centre) is now a best-priced 10-1 for the Derby

 PICTURE: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Ol' Man River runs
into Classic contention

Report: Curragh, Sunday

Juddmonte Beresford Stakes (Group 2) 1m, 2yo

GUINEAS and Derby hope Ol' Man River enhanced his Classic claims with an authoritative success in the Beresford, adding his name to a roll of honour that has recently featured some of the biggest names in the sport.

Having come home an easy two and three-quarter lengths clear of 20-1 shot Clonard Street bookmakers reacted by cutting the son of Montjeu for the Investec Derby. Paddy Power initially went 12-1 (from 16) for the Derby, but were then forced to cut the colt further to 9-1. As short as 8-1 in places, he is a general 10-1 second favourite behind stablemate John F Kennedy.The likes of Azamour, Sea The Stars and St Nicholas Abbey have won the Beresford in the last ten years and Ol' Man River became his trainer Aidan O'Brien's eighth winner in that time, as well as the eighth odds-on favourite to oblige as he returned at 1-2.

On whether the juvenile, out of British and Irish Guineas-winning mare Finsceal Beo, would be seen again this season his trainer Aidan O'Brien said: "He has both the Dewhurst and the Racing Post Trophy as options, but having had two runs I wouldn't worry if he didn't run again. He knows enough now going into next year and that's why you run them at two, to educate them."

Evaluating Ol' Man River's performance, he added: "The speed is what you'd have to love about him. He's come forward lovely from his first run to this and he'll have learned plenty from taking on the round mile. He settled and relaxed, moved out in the straight and coasted home, you'd have to be very happy."

O'Brien's son and stable jockey Joseph said: "He relaxed well and was probably in front too soon, but he was always going so easy. They went a nice even gallop, it was lovely quick ground, and I never had a moment's worry."

Ol' Man River was the third leg of a big-race treble for the O'Brien team, who were earlier successful with 9-4 shot Qualify in the Group 3 C.L. & M.F. Wld Park Stakes and 10-11 favourite The Great War in the Listed Anglesey Lodge Equine Hospital Blenheim Stakes.

Aidan O'Brien's The Great War back to winning ways at the Curragh on Sunday

The Aidan O'Brien-trained Qualify wins at Group 3 level for the first time.REPLAY

2014 Beresford Stakes Replay OL'MAN RIVER >>

Ol' Man River pictured on his way to victory on his debut last month
(Healy Racing Photos)

Ol’ Man River made it two from two with the minimum of fuss as he took the feature at the Curragh this afternoon, the Group 2 Juddmonte Beresford Stakes, providing Aidan and Joseph O’Brien with a treble on the card.

The son of Montjeu, who cost a massive €2.85 million as a foal, got off the mark on his debut over the course and distance last month and having opened at 6/4 last night he was and went off the clear 1/2 favourite.

Settled in fourth he came with his challenge on the outer from two furlongs out and he was soon ridden to the front, stretching clear inside the final furlong, going on to score by two and three parts of a length.

Clonard Street (20/1) kept on well to take second under Fran Berry on his first start for Tony Martin and JP McManus while Battle Of Marathon was three parts of a length back in third.

Aidan O'Brien said afterwards: "“He travelled and learned a lot as today was on the round course. He was able to sit in and relax and he has a lot of speed. It was a nice experience and I couldn’t be happier.

"He’s in the Racing Post Trophy and the Dewhurst. He has all the entries but he doesn’t have to run again this year as he has the two runs and knows enough now going into next year.

"He could run again this year but we won’t force him. This time of year horses can change so we’ll see what happens. He loves fast ground and is a beautiful mover. He’s by Montjeu but a horse with that pace will always handle nice ground. He’s exciting.

"He might get a mile and a quarter but you couldn’t be sure he’ll get a mile and a half. He’s a hardy horse, he’s not a whimp which is a good sign.

"He moved forward lovely from his maiden and he learned plenty today.

"War Envoy, Gleneagles and Found are the three we are thinking about for the two-year-old races in Longchamp next weekend."

The winner is now 12/1 from 16's with Paddy Power for next years Epsom Derby while Boylesports go 10/1 also from 16's.

Additional reporting by Alan Magee

The Great War
(Healy Racing Photos)

The Great War got back to winning ways as he ran out a comfortable winner of the Listed Anglesey Lodge Equine Hospital Blenheim Stakes, providing Aidan & Joseph O’Brien with a quick double.

The son of War Front burst on the scene with two impressive wins at Tipperary and over the course before disappointing when sent off the odds-on favourite on his next start in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot.

He went down by just a length to Ainippe in the Listed Curragh Stakes last month but he again disappointed last time out at Doncaster.

Sent off the well-backed 10/11 favourite this afternoon (opened at evens on-course) he tracked the leader in the early stages before cruising into the lead over a furlong out.

He soon came under pressure and stretched clear inside the final furlong, going on to score by three and a half lengths.

Tamadhor (6/4) was boxed in by the winner and had to be switched wide to come with her challenge.

Once she did The Great War had gone on and the Kevin Prendergast trained filly had to settle for second under Chris Hayes.

Aidan O’Brien said afterwards: "He's a fast horse who likes fast ground, and the key is a strong early tempo. There is a chance he could be supplemented for the Abbaye. We'll see how he comes out of this, and it looks like the ground will be good."

Boylesports introduced the winner at 20/1 for Prix de l'Abbaye at Longchamp next weekend.

Additional reporting by Alan Magee

The Great War earned a possible tilt at next Sunday's Prix de l'Abbaye when bouncing back to form to win the Blenheim Stakes at The Curragh.

The Great War: Back to winning ways at The Curragh.

The War Front colt, sent off the 10/11 favourite, had produced some disappointing performances of late after winning his first two starts, but had no difficulty resuming winning ways here under trainer Aidan O'Brien's son Joseph.

After stablemate As Good As Gold had set a good gallop, The Great War kicked on a furlong out and quickly pulled clear to land a decisive victory from market rival Tamadhor.

O'Brien senior revealed afterwards that the juvenile could be supplemented for the Qatar Prix de l'Abbaye at Longchamp next weekend.

 He said: "He's a fast horse who likes fast ground, and the key is a strong early tempo.

"There is a chance he could be supplemented for the Abbaye. We'll see how he comes out of this, and it looks like the ground will be good."

Sky Bet responded by adding him at 20/1 into the market for the race. He will need to be added to the line-up on Tuesday.

The winning jockey added: "I hadn't necessarily intended to ride him so handily but he travelled well and on his day he is a very good horse. We always thought a lot of him."

Qualify is pushed out close home by Joseph O'Brien
(Healy Racing Photos)

Stellar Glow was the only one punters wanted to know about for the Group 3 C.L. & M.F. Weld Park Stakes but she ultimately had to settle for third as Qualify ran out a comfortable winner for Aidan and Joseph O’Brien.

The daughter of Fastnet Rock finished a good third on her second career start in the Group 3 Silver Flash Stakes at Leopardstown in July before getting off the mark on her next outing at Dundalk.

She was a bit disappointing when finishing fifth in the Debutante Stakes here last month but she ran well to finish sixth in the Moyglare on her last start.

Having opened the 7/4 last night she proved friendless with punters and was sent off the 9/4 second favourite.

The Jim Bolger trainedStellar Glow was available at 9/4 last night but she was well-backed this morning and went off the 10/11 favourite.

Settled in rear the Louis and Kate Ronan owned winner was ridden from over two furlongs out, getting to the front just over a furlong from home before going on to score comfortably by three lengths.

Lola Beaux (11/2) ran a nice race to take second under Fran Berry for Jessica Harrington whileStellar Glow was a short head back in third.

Aidan O’Brien said in the aftermath: "We think she’s a very smart filly. She just wanted to be pulled back as she’s a filly with a lot of speed. We have been riding her wrong. You can put her to sleep and she has a massive stride and can get there quickly.

"She's a Fastnet Rock and loves that ground, and she could go for the Fillies Mile (at Newmarket on October 17th) if the ground stays good.”

Additional reporting by Alan Magee

Afonso De Sousa
(Healy Racing Photos)

Aidan O'Brien's Afonso De Sousa easily justified 4/5 favouritism to win the concluding Dundalk Stadium – Light Up Your Night Race at Dundalk today, avoiding some trouble in-running to win under the trainer's son Joseph O'Brien.

The son of Henrythenavigator won the same race 12 months ago and while he won today's renewal by all of three and a half lengths, he did have to overcome some traffic problems early in the home straight. However once O'Brien junior switched the strapping colt to the outer over a furlong out, he quickened instantly to easily beat Hold The Line.

The win was Aidan O'Brien's second of the evening, having earlier won with Waverunder his youngest son Donnacha O'Brien and while the trainer was absent, Joseph later stated “he (Afonso De Sousa) was not quite as ready as he was for this race last year, and that's why I rode him more patiently.

“He loves artificial surfaces, and is a classy horse and he's not shown on the track yet what I think he has in the locker."

Quotes from Alan Magee

Waver and Donnacha O'Brien
(Healy Racing Photos)

Apprentice jockey Donnacha O'Brien had his claim reduced to 7lb at Dundalk today when steering his third winner on his father Aidan O'Brien's Waver in the Crowne Plaza Race & Stay Apprentice Handicap.

The J.P. McManus owned son of Galileo, successful in a maiden hurdle at Listowel last week , was produced by O'Brien to lead a furlong out and the pair kept going for a neck win over fast finishing Catchy Lass.

Afterwards jockey O'Brien stated “he's a lovely mover and does everything right. When I put my stick down he pricked his ears and I'd a few anxious moments just near the line.

"My weight has kept fairly stable this year, and claiming 7lb now rather than 10lb will make things a little easier."

Ol Man River
(Healy Racing Photos)

Ol' Man River, as low as 12-1 for the 2015 Derby, makes his eagerly awaited second appearance in the Juddmonte Beresford Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday.

The Montjeu colt is out of the dual 1000 Guineas winner Finsceal Beo and looked the part when successful in his maiden at the end of August.

Trainer Aidan O'Brien will be looking for his 14th win in the Group Two to join his namesake Vincent O'Brien with most successes in the contest.

O'Brien also runs Battle Of Marathon, a Leopardstown maiden winner but well beaten in the Railway Stakes, and Order Of St George, who claimed his maiden by eight and a half lengths at the third time of asking.

Dermot Weld's Tombelaine will give O'Brien a good idea of where he stands going into the race.

Weld's colt finished second to Gleneagles and John F Kennedy, Ballydoyle colts with Classics on their agenda next season, on his last two outings.

Tony Martin is not normally involved in these type of events but he saddles an interesting contender in Clonard Street.

A debut winner for John McConnell, he was subsequently bought by JP McManus and sent to Martin.

Frank Berry, McManus's racing manager, said: "He's been with Tony about two weeks. The horse already had the entry and as he seems fine at home, we thought we'd let him take his chance.

"Hopefully he'll learn a bit more, it's only his second run. Tony trains plenty of horses for us so there's nothing really to read into the fact he's been sent there."

Ger Lyons runs Convergence, a Listed winner but last of five in the Futurity, while Jim Bolger gives a debut to the Teofilo colt Mcguigan. The field is completed by Charles O'Brien's Solomon Northup.

Ol' Man River: Coral are biggest about colt for the Derby

 PICTURE: Caroline Norris (racingpost.com/photos)

Derby fancy River
faces seven in Beresford

OL' MAN RIVER, as short as 12-1 for next year's Investec Derby, will have his first start in Group company in the Juddmonte Beresford Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday.

Trained by Aidan O'Brien for the Coolmore partners, Ol' Man River can be backed at 20-1 for the Epsom Classic with Coral, although that price will likely tumble if he impresses in Sunday's Group 2, which has been won by Sea The Stars and St Nicholas Abbey in the last decade.

The son of Montjeu and dual Classic-winner Finsceal Beo, who cost connections a whopping €2.850,000 when bought as a yearling last year, made a pleasing start to his career when accounting for 17 rivals in a maiden at the Curragh last month.

He faces a field of seven in the Beresford, including stablemates Battle Of Marathon and Order Of St George plus Jim Bolger's homebred newcomer McGuigan.

Paul Hensey, the track's manager, tweeted on Friday morning: "The ground @curraghrace is good to firm, watering. Forecast dry to Sunday."

Afonso De Sousa
(Healy Racing Photos)

Last year's winner of the Dundalk Stadium - Light Up Your Night Race, Afonso De Sousa, has had only three starts in the interim but he would appear to again have every chance of capturing Friday night's extended 10-furlong event.

The Henrythenavigator colt is said to need good or faster ground so it was hardly any great surprise when he finished towards the rear when last seen in the Lincolnshire at the Curragh back in March, with that event run on a soft to heavy surface.

Joseph O'Brien now makes Afonso De Sousa his pick of a Ballydoyle trio. Stable companions Festive Cheer and Indian Maharaja have been disappointing and cheekpieces are now tried on the latter.

Champion jockey O'Brien only has one other mount on this eight-race card, the George Kent-trained Coolgower in the first division of the bookings@dundalkstadium.com Handicap.

This American-bred has nothing in particular to recommend her but she's worth watching in the betting as she makes her handicap and Polytrack debut.

O'Brien's sister Ana had a day to remember when Cocoon dead-heated in the premier nursery at the Listowel Festival.

The 7Ib claimer helps to offset Cocoon's welter 10st 2lb burden in the Dundalk Nursery. Despite being drawn widest of all in 14, the Galileo filly could be capable of further progression as she is now equipped with cheekpieces.

Another of the O'Brien youngsters, Donnacha, could make it a memorable evening for the County Tipperary-based family on Waver in the Crowne Plaza Race & Stay Apprentice Handicap.

It looks like Aidan O'Brien has identified this mile-and-a-half contest as a nice opportunity for Waver, on the back of a maiden hurdle victory at Listowel just last Saturday.

Elsewhere, the chief races of interest are for the juveniles at the start of the card.

The Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund Auction Maiden has the 93-rated Sors amongst its number and he has several eyecatching opponents too.

The Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund Median Auction Race sees the 95-rated Approbare face six rivals. Course winner Folk Law would seem to be a major contender as well in this six-furlong affair.

Meanwhile, Gavin Faulkner is back to ride on these shores after quite an absence. He's on Bluerince Lady and Tohugo for trainer Mick Mulvany.

Ballydoyle Will Be Absent From 3 Day Newmarket Meeting

Aidan O'Brien Removed all 7 of his entries from Saturdays Royal Lodge G2 & Yesterday The Ballydoyle Trainer took Found & Together Again out of the G1 Cheveley Park Stakes and also all of his Juveniles from the 3 Maiden races including the £3.6 Million Pounds Purchase Sir Isaac Newton A Son Of Galileo . Aidan had a whole host of 2 year olds entered for the 2 One mile maidens and the Sole 7 furlong maiden but none of them will be seen at Headquarters . Its Expected that some of the Newmarket Defectors could be seen at The Curragh on Sunday, Ol'Man River the highly rated son of Montjeu could now run in the Beresford Stakes.

Australia: dual Derby winner is part-owned by Teo Ah Khing

 PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Part-owner to support Australia at stud

TEO AH KHING, joint-owner of Champion Stakes hope Australiaalongside the Coolmore triumvirate of John Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor, is looking forward to supporting the dual Derby winner at stud, according to China Horse Club manager Eden Harrington.

Speaking during a visit to the club's stable complex at Nine Dragons Hill in Zhejiang, Harrington said: "If Australia is to be a success at stud, we want to play a part in that. The journey doesn't end when he retires from racing, we want to see Australia go on and it's very much a partnership - we may have to go shopping for mares to support him."

The China Horse Club, founded and chaired by Teo, already owns more than 30 mares in partnership with Coolmore in Ireland and Australia, including Muravka, the dam of Prix Morny winner The Wow Signal. The son of Starspangledbanner was bred by trainer Tommy Stack, who sold Muravka privately after he was born.

"Coolmore put together a package of mares for us, and it was very fortuitous Muravka was among them," said Harrington. "It also shows that we're not just about racing, we're about breeding as well.

"We have mares in foal to Galileo, Fastnet Rock and High Chaparral. Our first stock in Ireland are now yearlings, but in Australia they're two and will be racing this season, which is very exciting.

"The China Horse Club also has some of its own fillies, including dual Listed winner Ming Zhi Cosmos."

The club enjoyed further success at the weekend when First Seal landed the Group 2 Coolmore Tea Rose Stakes at Randwick.

"First Seal is trained by John Thompson, who trained the Australian contingent of horses at the inaugural China Equine Cultural Festival in 2013," said Harrington. The 2014 CECF will be held at Nine Dragons Hill from October 11-13.

"We promised to support him and this is the first of the runners to hit the track. It's a wonderful result to share with some wonderful partners and a fantastic trainer, and also fantastic to support a race sponsored by Coolmore."

Among the owners involved in the Fastnet Rock filly are Dato Tan Chin Nam and Tunku Ahmad Yahaya, former owners of So You Think, and Dato Yap Kim San, owner of Sacred Falls.

"In terms of the breeding venture, we have very much started the journey, and want to try and play a role in bringing it to China," said Harrington.

"We hope that by bringing quality stock over to China, we can begin breeding quality stock in China - and one day be exporting those horses back to Britain and the rest of the world."

Ol' Man River winning on debut at the Curragh last month
(Healy Racing Photos)

Aidan O'Brien will make a late decision on where Ol' Man River runs this weekend with the highly-regarded juvenile one of 16 possibles in the Juddmonte Beresford Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday.

The son of Montjeu and Finsceal Beo, who was an eyecatching winner on his debut, also has the option of running in the Royal Lodge at Newmarket on Saturday.

Ol' Man River is one of five remaining entries for the Ballydoyle handler in the Group Two which he has dominated down the years, with Geoffrey Chaucer giving him a 13th win last season.

Battle Of Marathon, Jacobean, Order Of St George and Smuggler's Cove are also in the mix for O'Brien.

"All my horses for the weekend seem to be in good form," he said.

"The ground would be crucial for Ol' Man River as he needs it to stay good. We will wait and see what the weather does over the next few days and make a final decision on Friday morning."

HOT YOUNG SIRES 

Mastercraftsman & Starspangledbanner are proving to be Hot Young Sires to follow Video dedicated to the Pieces Beautifully 

written by Kingsbarns on AOBFS  

Ol' Man River pictured on his way to victory at the Curragh last month
(Healy Racing Photos)

Ol' Man River heads a seven-strong representation from theAidan O'Brien stable for the Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes atNewmarket on Saturday.

A leading Investec Derby contender, Ol' Man River cost 2.85million euro at Goffs and made the perfect start to his career when impressing in a maiden at the Curragh last month.

He also holds an entry in the Somerville Tattersall Stakes also at Newmarket on Thursday and in the Juddmonte Beresford Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday.

O'Brien's other possibles for the Royal Lodge are Aloft, General Marshall, Jamaica, Order Of St George, Rule The Waves and War Envoy.

Sixteen acceptors remain in the Group Two contest over the Rowley Mile, including Elm Park, who has been supplemented by trainer Andrew Balding.

The Phoenix Reach colt was an all-the-way winner of the Listed Stonehenge Stakes at Salisbury on his latest start.

Richard Hannon is double-handed with Lexington Times and Misterioso, while the list is completed by Cock Of The North, Lord Ben Stack, Medrano, Nafaqa, Prince Gagarinand Salateen.

TOGETHER FOREVER REPLAY 

Quartz puts his rivals in their place at Gowran
(Healy Racing Photos)

Donnacha O’Brien grabbed his second career victory on Quartz, the horse that he won his first race on.

Quartz was sent off the 3/1 joint favourite for the extended mile and one rated race which closed out the card.

He bounced away smartly from the gate but was soon held up in fourth on the inside. Coming into the straight and O’Brien asked him to go closer. He was ridden into the lead under two furlongs out and stayed on well despite drifting across the track.

He took the honours by six lengths from Coolfighter (10/3) and a neck toWaydownsouth (10/1).

Aidan O’Brien said: “He did it well. He quickened up well and looked like he would get further. He took a little time to come to hand but is really getting it together.

“He might step up into a stakes race now and could go to the Curragh for a mile-and-a-half Listed race (Finale Stakes). He doesn't need to step up in trip but he wouldn't mind.”

This was a Gowran Park double for Aidan O’Brien who saddled Together Forever to win the opening maiden.

Additional reporting by Gary Carson

Leading Investec Derby contender Ol' Man River could run in the Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday.

Aidan O'Brien: Could send Ol'Man River to Newmarket

Beautifully bred as a son of Montjeu out of the top-class racemare Finsceal Beo, the Aidan O'Brien-trained colt cost €2,850,000 at Goffs and made the perfect start to his career when impressing in a maiden at the Curragh last month.

He also holds an entry in the Somerville Tattersall Stakes at HQ on Thursday.

O'Brien said: "Ol' Man River is a possible for the Royal Lodge - we'll know more tomorrow."

Ol' Man River, who travelled well and kept on strongly to beat Aared by three-parts of a length on that first run, is a 16/1 chance with Sky Bet for the Epsom Classic.

Ol' Man River

Together Forever is well clear in Gowran Park
(Healy Racing Photos)

Together Forever, who was third in a Listed contest last-time out, was a warm order for the opening juvenile fillies’ maiden over a mile at Gowran Park and duly bolted up.

Aidan O’Brien’s Galileo filly broke well from stall 16 before tacking across and being settled in third by Joseph O’Brien.

The 8/13 favourite raced on the outer as Queenlet and Sarah Joyce dictated matters from the front. As the field flashed past the three pole O’Brien brought her on terms with those two rivals. With over two furlongs to go she assumed the lead in her own right and soon went clear.

Jockey O’Brien could afford a look around inside the final furlong and he must have been delighted to see the five-length gap back to Rivers Of Babylon, the second-placed horse at 25/1. Sarah Joyce kept on for third at 12/1.

Aidan O’Brien said: “I'm delighted with that. Obviously she had good form. Joseph was happy with her and said it suited holding on to her a little bit. We won't overdo her. If the ground stays good she might run again but if it doesn't she'll be left off.”

Together Forever holds an entry in the Irish 1,000 Guineas. She was third to Jack Naylor in a Curragh Listed race and prior to that was runner-up to the exciting Found also at the Curragh.

BIG MILESTONE FOR AOBFS 

ON SUNDAY RULER OF THE WORLD WON AIDAN O'BRIEN HIS 500TH WORLDWIDE GROUP RACE 

Egyptian Warrior (right) jumps the last just ahead of Tom's Article
(Healy Racing Photos)

Egyptian Warrior got off the mark on his second start over flights as he took the M.S.D. Animal Health Maiden Hurdle under Tony McCoy for Aidan O’Brien.

The JP McManus (completing a quick double) owned son of Galileo finished fourth to Tandem on his hurdles debut at Navan earlier this month and he since finished well-beaten in a handicap at Leopardstown on Saturday.

Backed from 2/1 into 15/8 favouritism on-course he tracked the leader in second and improved to lead before the last.

He was ridden out on the run-in and kept on well to score by two and a half lengths.

Tom’s Article finished second at 2/1 under Paul Carberry for Gordon Elliott while Fill Your Hands was a further length and a half back in third also at 2/1.

Aidan O’Brien said afterwards: “He jumping improved a nice bit today from Navan. Anthony was delighted with him and it is great for JP. He likes a bit of nice ground and if it stays like that he will probably keep busy."

Additional reporting by 

Adelaide (right)
(Healy Racing Photos)

Adelaide, an unlucky-in-running third in the Prix Niel at Longchamp on Sunday, will be trained for a tilt at the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley on October 25th.

Winner of the Grade OneSecretariat Stakes at Arlington last month,Aidan O'Brien's son of Galileo will go into quarantine on Thursday week.

The three-year-old colt was well supported for the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, losing little in defeat at the hands of impressive winner Eagle Top.

Connections of Adelaide believe the firmer ground in Melbourne will be to his liking.

James Bester, Australian racing manager for Coolmore, told Sky Sports Radio 1: "He probably should have won that race (Prix Niel), as impressive as the winner Ectot was.

"There was some temptation, given that was a major Arc trial and that prior Arc favourite Treve flopped in her trial, to consider the Arc de Triomphe for him.

"That said, he's a horse that relishes really fast ground.

"In America, when he won his Grade One, it was really firm ground.

"It's all systems go for the Cox Plate. He goes into quarantine on the 25th (September) and he comes out of quarantine in Werribee on the morning of the Cox Plate.

"The firm ground that he is likely to encounter in Australia will suit him tremendously. As long as he gets through his quarantine OK, he has to have a serious chance in this race.

"This horse will thrive under Australian conditions."

Ratings Update: Kennedy is a Premier prospect

A BIT FREAKY 

Ruler of The World Prix Foy G2 Winner Race Replay

GLENEAGLES National Stakes Winner 2014 Race Replay

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Champions Day at Ascot is the likely next port of call for Australia following his shock defeat at Leopardstown on Saturday.

Australia (right): Likely to head to Ascot

Aidan O'Brien's dual Derby hero and emphatic Juddmonte International winner was long odds-on to add another Group One prize to his collection in the Irish Champion Stakes, but York form was reversed as International runner-up The Grey Gatsby gained his revenge.

Australia could now head to Ascot, with both the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes over a mile and the mile and a quarter Champion Stakes under consideration on October 18.

O'Brien said: "Everything that could go wrong went wrong. He was handy and the pace was on and then the pace came back to him and he had to go to the outside of James Doyle's horse (Al Kazeem) and then he couldn't get back behind him. He ended up having to go early.

"The boys will decide where he goes next. Obviously there is Champions day, and they will decide whether it is the mile and a quarter race or the mile.

"He travels very strongly through his races and he did the same again yesterday, so I doubt he will go for the Arc."

The trainer's son Joseph has come in for some criticism for perhaps committing Australia too soon and the young rider is philosophical in defeat.

"Australia ran a good race. Things probably couldn't have gone much worse for me and things probably couldn't have gone better for the winner.He told At The Races: "It's a great game. You have your ups and your downs.

"On the day I just got touched off, but we live to fight another day.

"I'd probably do it slightly different if I had it back again, but hindsight's a great thing and we live and learn and it won't happen again.

"I went very wide and plenty of things went wrong for me. It would be great if we could ride every race again, but unfortunately we can't.

"I'm really looking forward to wherever he goes."

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GLENEAGLES ON NATIONAL DUTY 

Gleneagles enhanced his reputation with a clear-cut victory Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes at the Curragh.

Gleneagles: Won again at the Curragh

Having already secured the Tyros Stakes at Leopardstown and the Futurity Stakes over this course and distance three weeks ago, Aidan O'Brien's Galileo colt was a warm order to strike at Group One level.

Settled last of the five runners as stable companion Toscanelli played the roll of pacemaker, Gleneagles (1/3 favourite) had to be bustled up to take closer order in the straight, but Joseph O'Brien got the required response.

The youngster showed a smart change of gear to run to the lead and was driven out to claim victory by a length and a half, with Mick Halford's Toscanini best of the rest.

The winning trainer said: "He has plenty of speed and is probably a Guineas horse.

"He quickens very well, and could go for the Dewhurst."

Gleneagles is 14/1 for the Qipco 2000 Guineas with Sky Bet, whose spokesman Michael Shinners said: "Gleneagles followed in the illustrious footsteps of George Washington and Hawk Wing on Sunday, and we expect to see a bit of interest in him with O'Brien confirming that the 2000 Guineas looks a sensible long-term aim."

 GLENEAGLES The 44th Horse By Galileo to win a G1 race and those 44 have won 83 G1 Races (Gleneagles the 1st Ballydoyle Galileo To Win The National stakes)

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Dettori back on top of the World

Making his first appearance since disappointing in the Dubai World Cup at the end of March, the Aidan O'Brien-trained four-year-old was soon bowling along at the head of affairs under the popular Italian.

The pack started to close at the top of the home straight, but Dettori kicked again and left his rivals trailing in his wake.

Hot favourite Flintshire made late inroads for second place, but Ruler Of The World, a 3/1 chance with British bookmakers, was well on top at the line.

Ruler Of The World
(Healy Racing Photos)

Last year's Epsom Derby hero Ruler Of The World benefited from a well executed front-running ride from Frankie Dettori as he made a winning return to action in the Prix Foy at Longchamp.

Making his first appearance since disappointing in the Dubai World Cup at the end of March, the Aidan O'Brien-trained four-year-old was soon bowling along at the head of affairs under the popular Italian.

The packed closed in at the top of the home straight, but Dettori kicked again and left his rivals trailing in his wake. Hot favouriteFlintshire made late inroads, but Ruler Of The World was well on top at the line.

Dettori said: "Aidan gave me a lot of confidence, he said he stays a mile and a half well so don't turn it into a sprint and so I did my Longchamp race and when I kicked he went.

"If it was raining he would be knocking on the door (in the Arc).

"I don't know what I will ride, I am waiting for the others."

Harry Herbert, racing advisor for winning owners Al Shaqab Racing, said: "It's amazing that he made all, Frankie rode a great race on him and he stays very well. Aidan said he will stay.

"It's fantastic, as he's got a lot of speed."

Sheikh Joaan Al Thani said: "We are partners in Ruler Of The World with Coolmore and we are happy about today and hopefully we will continue working together and get more and more winners."

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Adelaide
(Healy Racing Photos)

Adelaide finished an unlucky third in the Qatar Prix Niel at Longchamp.

Aidan O'Brien's Secretariat Stakes winner was left with nowhere to go a furlong out, but flew home once switched wide by Ryan Moore and may well have claimed top honours with a clearer run.

Ectot made a winning return to action with a stylish display, though. The prolific Elie Lellouche-trained colt had been off the track since landing the Prix de Fontainebleauover a mile in April, but was a 15-8 favourite for his comeback, stepping up half a mile in trip.

Jockey Gregory Benoist settled the three-year-old - in whom Al Shaqab recently purchased a half-share - at the back of the field for much of the journey and he made effortless progress when given his head in the straight, quickly swooping to the lead.

The lack of a recent outing was perhaps a factor as he began to tire in the final furlong, but he was ultimately well on top as he passed the post ahead of Teletext.

Lellouche said: "He was very fresh because he had not run in a while. If you have a good horse it can go over any distance and I was always confident he could run over a mile and a half. I always thought he was a very good horse and it was a good performance.

"I told the jockey to keep him out of the race and to not give him a hard time, to be at the back as it was his first run in a very long time.

"I won't forget when Hurricane Run (sire of Ectot) beat me with Westerner in the Arc - Hurricane Run had won the Niel and I hope that the same can happen in my favour this year and the Niel winner can win the Arc.

Benoist said: "I was riding to instructions. The horse was calm, for him today he was quite relaxed. He went really well, he needed a breather but he stuck out his head and did everything I asked of him."

Benoist also has the option of riding unbeaten filly Avenir Certain in the Arc, potentially leaving Frankie Dettori to ride Ectot.

He added: "I have plenty of time to make my mind up."

Pascal Bary said of Teletext: "He ran a cracking race, but he's definitely not going to run in the Arc."

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6 Million Euro Purchase CHIQUITA Finished 2nd In the Blandford Stakes a decent starting point

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ADELAIDE 3rd IN PRIX NIEL 

Adelaide finished better than any horse in the Prix Foy showing a strong turn of foot 

Ryan Moore was pinned in By Pierre Charles Boudot on Galante also in Coolmore ownership which made it even more frustrating to watch its the 2nd time this has happened it also happened in the Prti Hoquet in May. Adelaide is set to enter Quarantine at Ballydoyle ready for his trip down under where he will possibly run in the Cox Plate under the trainership of Aidan For the Final Time.

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O'BRIEN DAZZLED BY FANTASTIC LIGHT 

Leading Light: Giving his rider the right signals at home

Joseph O'Brien feels Leading Light makes his job look easy as the colt attempts to maintain his unbeaten run this season in the Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger at the Curragh on Sunday.

The four-year-old, who won the Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster last year, stepped up to take the Ascot Gold Cup in June but showed he still had the pace to win over shorter distances when claiming a trial for this race over the mile-and-three-quarters trip last month.

In 10 career races he has only lost twice - on his debut and in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe last October - and will be a red-hot favourite to give Aidan O'Brien his first win in the race since Septimus in 2008.

"He seems to have come out of his prep race at the Curragh really well," said Joseph O'Brien.

"He idled in front that day but always does and won nicely. Ground or trip is not a massive problem for him.

"He is an uncomplicated horse and I can ride him handy or take my time and that makes my job very easy."

Leading Light had Royal Diamond back in second in the Leger Trial on August 24 and Johnny Murtagh's veteran meets his conqueror on 5lb worse terms.

Nevertheless, he won the race back in 2012 for Tommy Carmody and also struck at Ascot on Champions Day last season.

"Royal Diamond had a good run in the Leger Trial and I've been happy with him since," said Murtagh.

"He's won the Irish St Leger before and he seems to like the Curragh.

"We're really looking forward to it."

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CHIQUITA READY TO ROLL IN BLANDFORD 

Connections celebrate after Chicquita's Irish Oaks success last season.

Last summer's Irish Oaks heroine Chicquita finally makes her belated debut for Aidan O'Brien in the Moyglare "Jewels" Blandford Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday.

Despite showing wayward tendencies during her three-year-old campaign with leading French trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre, the daughter of Montjeu found only the brilliant Treve too strong in the French Oaks and went one better under Johnny Murtagh in last July's Irish equivalent.

Chicquita was the star name in the dispersal of owner Paul Makin's equine talent at Goffs last November and she became the most expensive horse ever sold at auction in Ireland when going under the hammer for six million euros.

The four-year-old will carry the colours of the Coolmore triumvirate of Derrick Smith, John Magnier and Michael Tabor for the first time this weekend as she faces six rivals at Group Two level, with O'Brien also saddling Shell House and Beyond Brilliance.

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JFK Poetry in Motion 

Beautiful slow motion film of John F Kennedy The John Deere Juvenile Turf Stakes G3 Winner

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If you can bare to watch it again Champion Stakes Replay

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The Grey Gatsby (near side) beats Australia
(Healy Racing Photos)

British raider The Grey Gatsby and Ryan Moore were the anti heroes at Leopardstown today, bursting the Irish-Australia bubble in the feature event, the Group 1 QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes, on a day of high drama on the opening day of the inaugural and hugely successful Champions Weekend.

Both horses had claimed the three 'local' Derbys in recent months with English andIrish Derby winner Australia starting the strong 3/10 favourite to uphold York winning form (in the Juddmonte Stakes) over French Derby winner The Grey Gatsby.

More to follow..

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AUSTRALIA Before the Champion Stakes 

 

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Gleneagles heads National Stakes at HQ

Updated: Friday, 12 Sep 2014 18:07 | 

Mick Halford sees Gleneagles as a likely tough nut to crack as his ultra-consistent juvenile Toscanini gets his first shot at Group One level in the Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday.

Early-season placed efforts behind Cappella Sansevero and Kool Kompany suggested Toscanini would take high rank in the two-year-old division and he went on to fill the runner-up spot in both the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Anglesey Stakes back on home soil.

The Godolphin-owned youngster made the most of having his sights lowered when finally and deservedly getting his head in front on the all-weather at Dundalk last month, but while Halford is anticipating another bold show this weekend, he is fearful of the threat posed by Aidan O'Brien's main challenger.

Halford said: "He's got 8lb to find with Gleneagles, which will be difficult, but having said that we're delighted with our horse and he's going there in tremendous form.

"Going back to seven furlongs will be no problem for him and we're looking forward to it."

Gleneagles undoubtedly set the standard having posted a hat-trick of victories since his promising debut fourth at Leopardstown, most recently claiming the Group Two Futurity Stakes over this course and distance three weeks ago. O'Brien also saddles Toscanelli.

Jim Bolger is represented by Hall Of Fame, who has ground to make up on Gleneagles having finished third in the Futurity.

A small but select field is completed by Charlie Hills-trained British raider Dutch Connection, who won a Glorious Goodwood maiden before landing the Acomb Stakes at York.

John F Kennedy Race Replay (Not the whole race unfortunately)

John F Kennedy
(Healy Racing Photos)

John F Kennedy put himself firmly in the 2015 Classic picture with an impressive win at Group 3 level at Leopardstown today, winning the John Deere Juvenile Turf Stakes at his ease for trainer Aidan O'Brien and his jockey son Joseph O'Brien.

The son of Galileo moved to the front early in the home straight and from there readily quickened away from his rivals and in the end recorded a comprehensive three and a quarter lengths win over 105 ratedTombelaine.

The colt's progression, since what seemed a disappointing debut defeat over course and distance in July, was not lost on trainer O'Brien who later stated “you'd have to be delighted with that. He learned a lot from the first day and also from the second day to today and he could go anywhere now.

“Around the inside here it is tight and he had to learn a lot and learn quick. It was great experience. We would be thinking of him maybe as a Dewhurst horse but we'll have a think and see how he is.

“He has plenty of pace and we we're delighted with the way he behaved today. He'll still grow up more and is very exciting.”

The winner was universally cut by bookmakers for next year's Classics and is now 6/1 clear favourite (from 10s) with Paddy Power for the Epsom Derby while he is a general 12/1 shot for the 2,000 Guineas.

Quotes from 

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JFK Storms To BC Trial Victory in a time of 1m 38.44 3 1/2 Lengths Clear of the rest  

Picture by Jason Doyle 

 Connections of JFK Collecting the silverware

Picture By Graham Smith

AIDAN ON JFK "He has come forward from every run and improved again from the 

last day to today. We were delighted with the way he behaved today and you could 

go anywhere after this with him." - Aidan O'Brien

John F Kennedy is Sky Bet's new 7/1 favourite for next year's Investec Derby after comfortably scoring in the John Deere Juvenile Turf at Leopardstown.

John F Kennedy is too good for his rivals in the John Deere Juvenile Turf Stakes.

The grandly-named winner was following in the hoofprints of stablemate Australia, who claimed this event 12 months ago before marching on to Epsom glory.

Ridden by the trainer's son, Joseph, the 4/7 favourite still looked a little inexperienced but was far too good for runner-up Tombelaine.

The victory saw him cut from 10/1 to 7/1 for next year's Derby by Sky Bet and from 16/1 to 10/1 for the 2000 Guineas.

Spokesman Michael Shinners commented: "There's a long way to go between now and next year's Classics, but this well-bred colt couldn't be in better hands."

Winning trainer Aidan O'Brien said: "You'd have to be delighted with that. He learned a lot from the first day and from the second day to today.

"He could go anywhere. We would be thinking of him maybe as a Dewhurst horse, but we'll have a think and see how he is. He has plenty of pace.

"We we're delighted with the way he behaved today. He came on lovely from the last day and he'll still grow up more. He's very exciting.

"Around the inside here it is tight and he had to learn a lot, and learn quick. It was great experience."

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Envoy Stays on Late to grab 2nd in Champagne

War Envoy Stayed on late to show a great improvement in form finishing 2nd in the Doncaster Champagne Stakes. I Personally think he needs at least a mile now the Breeders Cup Juvenile Races (Turf Or Dirt) over 1 mile or 1 mile and a sixteenth Could really suit him.

War Envoy
(Healy Racing Photos)

War Envoy ran a pleasing race to fill the runner-up berth in the At The Races Champagne Stakes at Doncaster.

Aidan O'Brien's youngster was stepping up to seven furlongs for the first time in the Group Two and finished his race to good effect, reeling in all but length-and-a-quarter winner Estidhkaar.

Kevin Buckley, Coolmore's UK representative, said: "It was a slow pace to start with, then they went quick and fast.

"He would have preferred faster ground, but he stayed out the trip well which was encouraging - it was a step up from him as he'd been racing over six. After that it's not beyond the realms of possibility he'd stay a mile, but he needs to get his fast ground."

Sent off the 10-11 favourite, it was not totally straightforward for Estidhkaar, who was quite free in the early stages behind the front-running Aces. It took a little time for the Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum-owned winner to reel in Aces and Belardo, but having asserted at the half-furlong pole he stayed on strongly from there.

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 WAR ENVOY Pre Parade Ring Doncaster 

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AOBFS Well on Course to crack 10,000 Unique Visitors in a Month and will be our 3rd record breaking month in a row Thanks to all of our fantastic Visitors from me and kingsy we love doing this. & This just keeps growing here's to a successful weekend ahead 

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Congratulations to @KingsbarnsHorse Kingsbarns Corner has gone past 10,000 Unique Visitors

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Noble Mission: Group 1 tally doubled after French decision

Noble Mission awarded French Group 1  As Spiritjim Disqualified and becomes Galileo's 18th Multiple G1 Winner

NOBLE MISSION has been awarded the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, following the disqualification of first past the post Spiritjim.

The decision now doubles the tally of Group 1 victories for both Noble Mission and trainer Lady Cecil, following a pillar-to-post victory in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh in May.

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LEADING THE CURRAGH HIGHLIGHT
12 Sep 2014

Tapestry (left) winning at York
(Healy Racing Photos)

Joseph O'Brien admits dropping down half a mile in distance is "not ideal" for Tapestry in the Coolmore Fastnet Rock Matron Stakes atLeopardstown on Saturday.

Always highly regarded, she was sent off 4-1 favourite for the Newmarket 1000 Guineas in May but ran no sort of a race. She shaped a little better in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, and could then have been considered an unlucky loser in the Irish Oaks as her saddle slipped.

After that she caused one of the shocks of the season when beating King Georgeheroine Taghrooda in the Yorkshire Oaks.

O'Brien told RTE Sport: " Tapestry won very well at York but she's coming back considerably in trip to a mile. It's not ideal but we're hoping she'll run a big race."

Coronation Stakes winner Rizeena renews rivalry with Tapestry and returns to action against her own sex for the Clive Brittain operation. She was last seen finishing fourth behind Kingman in the Prix Jacques le Marois in France.

Bruce Raymond, racing manager for owner Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum, said: "She's in great form. Ryan Moore has been doing all the work on her, as usual.

"Looking at the race, I think she has a good winning chance. She ran a great race last time, she is maybe a bit fresher now and we know she's a very good miler.

"I wouldn't mind seeing a drop of rain, although it rarely gets rattling fast in Ireland. It's a race I think she should win and I would certainly be disappointed if she's not in the first three."

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 A.P.O'Brien Weekend Runners

SATURDAY

LEOPARDSTOWN (Matron Stakes & Irish Champion Stakes) 

& DONCASTER (Champagne Stakes + St Leger)

SUNDAY 

LONGCHAMP
Adelaide Prix Niel - Ryan Moore 
Ruler Of The World Prix Foy - Frankie Dettori

Kingsbarns Prix Foy - Ryan Moore

CURRAGH 

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The Juddmonte International Stakes AUSTRALIA and Joseph O Brien wins from THE GREAT GATSBY for trainer Aidan O Brien 
(Healy Racing Photos)

The eyes of the racing world will be firmly fixed on Leopardstown this Saturday when the Dublin track plays host to the opening meeting of the inaugural Irish Champions Weekend. Most of the attention will certainly focus around the shining star of this year’s Classic crop, the dual Derby winner Australia, who runs in the €1 million Qipco Irish Champion Stakes.

Australia has been described by Aidan O’Brienas the best horse he has ever trained and is so far living up to the hype with stunning victories in both the Irish and English Derbys and most recently in the Juddmonte International at York. The regally bred son of Galileo will now attempt to capture the race that evaded his great sire. Galileo suffered his only defeat on Turf when beaten a head by Fantastic Light in an epic 2001 renewal of the Irish Champion Stakes.

Galileo was sent off the 4/11 favourite on that occasion and Australia seems certain to end up an even shorter price this time with current odd of 2/7. Betfair Sportsbookare going out on a limb with an unbeatable offer of odds of 4/1 about Australia for New customers. The offer is available to all new customers for €10. So rather than getting back a return of €12.86 if Australia wins on Saturday these punters will pocket a cool €50.

If you are betting on any of the races over Irish Champions Weekend you could do worse than check out the Betfair Sportsbook which offers Guaranteed Prices on all Irish Races. In other words if you take their odds about a horse and the SP is bigger your will be paid out at the bigger price. They also have a promotion called ‘Price Rush’ which enables you to avail of the Betfair Exchange odds if they are bigger than the Sportsbook odds at the time of your bet.

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Joseph, Ana, Sarah & Donnacha First Winners By Me

WELL DONE BRO 

Joseph (Right) Gives his younger Brother Donnacha (Left) a Firm Handshake after Winning his first ever race aboard Quartz at Dundalk last weekend meaning All 4 of the O'Brien Siblings have now won races under rules quite the Family 

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Tapestry
(Healy Racing Photos)

Tapestry, who flooredTaghrooda in the Yorkshire Oaks, steps down to a mile for the Coolmore Fastnet Rock Matron Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday.

Aidan O'Brien's filly had not been right earlier in the season, but she bounced back in tremendous style to defeat the unbeaten Investec Oaks and King George winner over a mile and a half at York.

O'Brien also saddles Palace in the Group One contest, for which a field of 10 has been declared.

The Clive Brittain-trained Rizeena, winner of the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascotwhere Tapestry was only sixth, is one of two British challengers along with Mick Channon's Wee Jean.

There is one French raider in the shape of Alex Pantall's Kenhope while the list is completed by Fiesolana, Purr Along, Tobann, Wannabe Better and Flying Jib.

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 Australia Faces 6 In Champion 

Australia faces no more than six rivals as he goes for his fourth successive Group One win of the season in the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday.

Australia: Sky Bet's odds-on favourite to extend his winning sequence of Group Ones.

The English and Irish Derby scorer took the step back to this trip of a mile and a quarter in his stride when winning the Juddmonte International Stakes at York last month despite connections saying the colt was not fully wound up.

Aidan O'Brien's top-class three-year-old will be taken on again by The Grey Gatsby, who chased him home two lengths down in second place on the Knavesmire.

The Prix du Jockey Club winner was added to the Irish Champion field at the supplementary stage by his trainer Kevin Ryan.

Kingfisher has helped ensure a decent pace for stablemate Australia in his last three races and gets the key role again.

Al Kazeem, runner-up to The Fugue 12 months ago when sent off odds-on favourite, bids to go one better after returning to the track following an aborted stud career.

The Roger Charlton-trained six-year-old broke the track record when winning the Group Three Winter Hill Stakes at Windsor on his second run back.

The William Haggas-trained Mukhadram could only finish fourth behind Australia at York but had earlier defeated Trading Leather in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.

Trading Leather, trained by Jim Bolger, was third in this race last year. Dermot Weld's Alkasser completes the seven-strong line-up.

Noble Mission was among those pulled out at the final declaration stage, with conditions at the Leopardstown set to be unsuitably quick for Lady Cecil's runner.

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 14 in Leger Field 

Aidan O'Brien's Kingfisher was the only withdrawal at the final declaration stage for Saturday's Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster.

Forever Now beats Alex My Boy and Kings Fete in the March Stakes - all three renew rivalries in the St Leger.

The champion Irish trainer will instead deploy the colt in Saturday's Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown, but does send Granddukeoftuscany to Doncaster for the final British Classic of the season. Colm O'Donoghue comes in for the mount.

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Winner for Robbie Power
(Healy Racing Photos)

Noah Webster was friendless on his return to action in the Galway City & Salthill Publicans Handicap Hurdle but defied the drift in the market to run out a convincing winner.

Robbie Power got a lovely split on the rail going to the final flight on the Aidan O'Brien-trained gelding and he jumped the last in contention.

The JP McManus-owned gelding, sent off a 16/1 shot having traded at 7/1 this morning, stuck at his task well on the run-in to post a four-length success.

She's A Leader chased him home with 5/1 favourite Portrade back in third.

The winner was making his first start since pulling up at Gowran Park in March.

“Being fresh is the key to him. He won first time out at Naas last year but was a bit disappointing after that. He did the job well in the end today,” said Power afterwards.

The winning jockey was another to praise today's ground:- “They've done a good job on the ground today. It was a bit too quick yesterday for jumping.”

(Additional reporting by Alan Magee)

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Tapestry
(Healy Racing Photos)

Yorkshire Oaks heroine Tapestry is among 13 potential rivals for the brilliant Treve in thePrix Vermeille at Longchamp this weekend.

Treve was successful in the Group One contest 12 months ago before her stunning victory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and although she has been off the track since pulling muscles at Royal Ascot, she remains the star turn this weekend.

The Aidan O'Brien-trained Tapestry would certainly be a formidable opponent if she does make the journey to Paris on Sunday having taken away King George heroine Taghrooda's unbeaten record last month on the Knavesmire.

She is, however, also engaged in the Coolmore Fastnet Rock Matron Stakes atLeopardstown on Saturday.

Taghrooda's trainer John Gosden has a couple of major contenders in Pomology and Sultanina.

Pomology has not been seen since beating Sultanina in the Lancashire Oaks at Haydock in early July, while her stablemate has since claimed Group One glory in theNassau Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.

David Simcock's Madame Chiang is the only other potential British challenger.

Alain de Royer-Dupre's trio of Vazira, Mintaka and Dolniya and the Andre Fabre-trained Baltic Baroness also feature.

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APOB Entries Sunday Longhamp 

Prix Vermeille (Group 1): Tapestry

Prix Niel (Group 2): Adelaide

Prix Foy (Group 2): Kingsbarn, Magician, Ruler Of The World

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Found the key to Ballydoyle quest for Champions Slam

Found, right, impressed on her debut at the Curragh (Healy Racing Photos)

Aidan O'Brien has enhanced his prospects of a clean sweep of the Champions Weekend Group Ones by supplementing Found for Sunday's Moyglare Stud Stakes, though the prospect of a famous Ballydoyle Grand Slam is counterbalanced by the addition of The Grey Gatsby to the Qipco Irish Champion Stakes.

O'Brien's brilliant dual Classic hero Australia  is as short as 2/7 favourite to reassert his authority over his Juddmonte International victim in Saturday's €1m 10-furlong feature at Leopardstown. However, Kevin Ryan looks set to honour his pledge of a rematch by sanctioning the York runner-up's entry at yesterday's five-day stage at a cost of €75,000.

Ryan's French Derby victor was comfortably held by Australia on the Knavesmire, but the prospect of getting the grey's favoured fast ground over his optimum trip in such a lucrative event is clearly a huge incentive. Leopardstown and the Curragh have begun artificially watering to maintain ground that is officially being given as good to firm on both tracks.

The Grey Gatsby could form part of a weighty cross-channel team, with last year's runner-up Al Kazeem also engaged along with Jane Cecil's Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Noble Mission and William Haggas' Hamdan Al Maktoum-owned Eclipse winner Mukhadram.

In total, O'Brien has five of the 12 entries in the showpiece of the inaugural €3.8m weekend, with the Ballydoyle's maestro's recent Secretariat Stakes winner Adelaide among his quintet. Dermot Weld's Free Eagle, which could make its belated reappearance in the Group Three KPMG Enterprise Stakes on Saturday, was an expected withdrawal, though the Curragh genius' decision to supplement Maktoum's Alkasser was less predictable.

Twice a winner from four starts this year, the Shamardal three-year-old hasn't been seen since misfiring in the Scurry Stakes over six furlongs in June, and it is entirely possible that he could be charged with ensuring an honest gallop for Mukhadram.

O'Brien also has the Matron Stakes market leader in Tapestry, which took the scalp of Maktoum's mighty Taghrooda at York. The entries for the mile fillies' event have stood up quite well, with Clive Brittain's Rizeena - conqueror of Tapestry in last year's Moyglare - spearheading Tapestry's likely opposition in the mile Group One.

Precocious

At the Curragh on Sunday, the Gold Cup victor Leading Light will vie to secure O'Brien his third Irish St Leger and the precocious Gleneagles will lead the charge from the country's most powerful stable in the National Stakes.

The Futurity Stakes victor is a 25/1 shot for next year's Derby, and there should be plenty other Classic clues unearthed. Roger Varian's Lowther Stakes second Cursory Glance heads the Moyglare betting, though the addition of Found at a cost of €30,000 didn't deter favourite-backers.

Found, so impressive on her Curragh debut, was trimmed into 9/4 from 3/1, but Cursory Glance was also shortened into 13/8 from 7/4. While that reflects the order at the head of the market for next year's 1,000 Guineas, Cursory Glance is not quoted for the Oaks, for which Found is a 14/1 ante-post favourite.

Paul Hensey, racecourse manager at headquarters, yesterday expressed his delight at the quality of entries for the two-day climax. "As we expected, the entries are fantastic," he said. "It was our ambition to attract the best horses and we are delighted that there is a strong overseas representation. The weekend is shaping up very well."

On Saturday, Doncaster will host the final major European Classic of 2014, with O'Brien's outsider Granddukeoftuscany likely to be the only Irish-trained participant in the St Leger.

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Adelaide runs in France Group race on Sunday

By Adrian DunnTVNWednesday, September 10, 2014 - 9:41 AM

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The Great War Runs In Weatherbys Hamilton Insurance 300,000 2-Y-O Stakes At Doncaster On thursday Joey Riding + Venus De Milo Will run in the Park Stakes Group 2 At Doncaster On thursday Joey Riding 

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Tapestry, who lowered the colours of King George winner Taghrooda in the Yorkshire Oaks, is in line to drop back to a mile for Saturday's Coolmore Fastnet Rock Matron Stakes at Leopardstown.

Tapestry is in line for Leopardstown

Coronation Stakes winner Rizeena is also one of 15 possibles for the Group One, which could feature Fiesolana, French challengers Thawaany and Kenhope and the progressive Balansiya.

Dermot Weld's exciting Free Eagle is still in the mix for the KPMG Enterprise Stakes earlier on the card.

Favourite for this season's Epsom Derby after an impressive debut win last season, he was beaten by Australia on his next start and injury has kept him off the track until now.

Panama Hat and Brendan Brackan could take him on, while Aidan O'Brien has supplemented Hall Of Mirrors.

The John Deere Juvenile Turf Stakes, a race in which Australia beat Free Eagle 12 months ago, is likely to see the return to action of the O'Brien-trained John F Kennedy.

He could be taken on by Agnes Stewart, the unbeaten Bertie Le Belge and Parish Boy.

Gordon Lord Byron, Darwin, Top Notch Tonto and Mustajeeb have, along with Brendan Brackan, been left in the Group Two Clipper Boomerang Mile.

Australia will face a maximum of 11 rivals when taking to the track once again in Saturday's Qipco Irish Champion Stakes.

Australi: Irish Champion Stakes hopeful

The Leopardstown Group One has drawn a number of Group One winners from Britain, headed by Roger Charlton's back-to-form Al Kazeem, who was second to The Fugue 12 months ago.

The Grey Gatsby and Mukhadram finished a respective second and fourth behind the Aidan O'Brien-trained dual Derby hero Australia in last month's Juddmonte International at York and could be ready for a rematch.

Lady Cecil's Noble Mission, winner of the Tattersalls Gold Cup, remains in the field after having had a break following his busy spring and early-summer campaign.

O'Brien's international raiders Adelaide and Magician are currently still engaged in the race, along with stablemates Kingfisher and Hall Of Mirrors.

Jim Bolger's pair Parish Hall and Trading Leather, plus the Dermot Weld-trained Alkasser, complete the possible line-up.

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Venus De Milo
(Healy Racing Photos)

Venus De Milo will attempt to return to winning ways in the DFS Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster on Thursday.

Aidan O'Brien's filly was second in the Irish Oaks last year but ran way below her best last time out in the Yorkshire Oaks behind stablemate Tapestry.

The four-year-old will be tackling 14 furlongs for only the second time as she steps up in trip on Town Moor.

Tony Martin's Dark Crusader also struggled at York on her latest outing and returns to Yorkshire in hope of better fortune.

James Fanshawe's Seal Of Approval heads the home challenge.

The five-year-old ran suffered an unfortunate fall in last year's renewal, giving Hayley Turner a nasty injury in the process, but the horse suffered no lasting effects as she went on to claim Group One glory at Ascot on Champions Day.

She was a fast-finishing third in the Geoffrey Freer last time out and will appreciate stepping back up in distance.

There is a strong three-year-old contingent, headed by the William Haggas-trained Arabian Comet and John Gosden's Criteria.

Hughie Morrison's Cascading, the Peter Chapple-Hyam-trained Groovejet, Ralph Beckett's Melrose Abbey and Ed Dunlop's representative Island Remede are others to represent the Classic generation.

Moment In Time, Energia Fox, Debdebdeb, Silk Sari and Sohar complete the field.

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Coolmore Only Purchased one on Day 1 Of The Keeneland Yearling Sale A Tapit Colt Half Brother to Unbeaten Sprinter Indianapolis Check Out the Coolmore Sales Page For Pics & Video.

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Vivat Rex and Joseph O'Brien beat Thunder Zone and Colin Keane
(Healy Racing Photos)

Aidan and Joseph O'Brien, on the mark in the opening event with Archangel Raphael, signed off at Galway on Monday by doubling up in the concluding Sean Cleary Memorial Maiden with 4/1 newcomer Vivat Rex.

Much like Archangel Rapheal, Vivat Rex, a son of Fastnet Rock, equipped with blinkers, found a turn of pace that his rivals couldn't match in the closing stages as he prevailed by two and a quarter lengths from Ger Lyons' Thunder Zone (had made a lot of the running).

Ashbury Boss, squeezed for room inside the last, was a further three parts of a length back in third. Meanwhile well-backed favourite Wrap Star (7/4) had every chance but he eventually had to settle for fourth.

"He was lazy and green. They went a nice gallop and the race worked out well. He is a grand horse with a good attitude. Hopefully the handicapper won't be too hard on him," said Joseph afterwards.

The Stewards enquired into an incident on the final bend involving Asbury Boss, ridden by S. Foley, placed third, Vivat Rex, ridden by J.P. O'Brien, placed first andLettre De Cachet (GB), ridden by C.D. Hayes, placed fifth, where it appeared thatLettre De Cachet (GB) met with interference. Evidence was heard from the riders concerned. Having viewed the recording of the race and considered the evidence, the Stewards did not apportion blame to any rider and took no further action.

The Stewards enquired into an incident about 150 yards from the finish involving Asbury Boss, ridden by S. Foley, placed third, Vivat Rex, ridden by J.P. O'Brien, placed first and Wrap Star, ridden by D.P. McDonogh, placed fourth, where it appeared that Asbury Boss ran short of room and checked. Evidence was heard from the riders concerned. Having viewed the recording of the race and considered the evidence, the Stewards did not apportion blame to any rider and took no further action. (DM & EM)

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R.I.P Before Long
Before Long (Duke Of Marmalade x Roselita), the 100/30 favourite in the third (5.35pm), at Galway sadly broke her front leg and Could not be saved 

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Archangel Raphael draws away under Joseph O'Brien
(Healy Racing Photos)

Archangel Raphael justified 11/10 favouritism in the Donnelly's Of Barna European Breeders Fund Maiden for Aidan and Joseph O'Brien.

It was always likely that the pace-setting Bunk Off Early would come back to them but favourite backers would have been worried Aidan O'Brien 'rowed' along out on the dip.

The Montjeu colt began to hit top gear wide into the straight but it was only when receiving a crack of the whip inside the final furlong that the Killarney second placer extended away to beat Sarah Joyce by two lengths.

Aidan O'Brien said: "At halfway I thought it wasn't going to happen. He is still green but he came home very well and he will get further than a mile.

"They might have went very fast. Joseph took his time on him and when he met the hill he might have just got a bit of a fright as he wouldn't have met those undulations at home.

"The last day he got to the front and was just out battled. He holds plenty of entries and he is in the Beresford." (DM & EM)

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The Great War
(Healy Racing Photos)

The Aidan O'Brien-trained pair War Envoy and The Great War are the only Irish representatives still entered in the At The Races Champagne Stakes at Doncaster on Saturday.

Both War Front colts have been seen running with plenty of credit in recent weeks and could head to Doncaster bidding to hand O'Brien a second success in the seven furlong Group Two event.

Estidhkaar and Richard Pankhurst are two of the star names among 15 juveniles still in contention with Richard Hannon's Estidhkaar having not been seen since an ultra-impressive victory in the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket's July meeting.

Hannon could also run Baitha Alga, but he has plenty to prove after finishing tailed off in last month's Gimcrack at York.

Richard Pankhurst has not been seen since streaking clear in the Chesham Stakesat Royal Ascot for John Gosden and has been snapped up to run in the colours ofSheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum.

Other interesting contenders include Charlie Hills' once-raced Windsor maiden winner Aces, Roger Varian's runaway Denford Stud Stakes victor Belardo and the Barry Hills-trained Nafaqa.

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Beyond and O'Brien the girls to follow in Galway

A year after being won by one of the most popular race mares in recent times, today's Ardilaun Hotel Oyster Stakes at Galway is confined solely to the female of the equine species. 

Missunited proved her quality by seeing off the boys in the 12-furlong Listed race 12 months ago, but the decision to exclude her male counterparts is in keeping with the prevailing trend for diluting quality by flooding the calendar with extra Pattern races restricted to fillies and mares.

While the race doesn't lack competition with 12 runners, it does lack the sort of context that male rivals rated 111 and 110 lent it 12 months ago when finishing second and third behind Mick Winters' great mare.

The top-rated today is Dermot Weld's 102-rated Ebeyina, successful in just a Cork maiden in three starts to date. Of the three others on marks of 100 or higher, Beyond Brilliance is the most interesting.

Aidan O'Brien's three-year-old has run 14 times this term, the pick of which was her effort to be fifth behind Bracelet in the Darley Irish Oaks. On her first stab at this trip, she stayed on well from the rear under Ana O'Brien at the Curragh, with the form franked by the runner-up Tapestry claiming Taghrooda's scalp in York.

Beyond Brilliance has failed to build on that performance since, but two defeats over nine furlongs behind Carla Bianca weren't without encouragement.

Back over the longer trip now, she appeals as tentative nap material to give her 18-year-old rider a first Pattern triumph at the suburban Ballybrit venue. Ballydoyle has five representatives on duty in the €50,000 contest and 11 on the card in total, with the juvenile maidens Archangel Raphael and Before Long also fancied under Ana's champion jockey brother, Joseph. Archangel Raphael lost nothing in defeat when just outfought by the more experienced Postulation on its Killarney bow, so average progress from that should see him take the mile contest.

Before Long went down to Bleu Ciel Et Rouge in similar circumstances at the Kingdom track a day later, progressing enormously from his middling debut here. He won't need to come on much more to lose his maiden status in the seven-furlong edition.

Colin Keane could secure a brace aboard Mansuri for his boss Ger Lyons and Clondaw Warrior for Willie Mullins. Mansuri is a consistent sort that might gain a deserved win in the seven-furlong handicap, while Clondaw Warrior is worth another go in the mile-and-a-half heat.

While the runaway Tramore winner failed to exploit what looked like a gift of an opportunity at Roscommon off a mark 17lb lower than he competes off here, that run came just two days after his Tramore rout. The suspicion is that he is capable of at least being competitive off his revised rating.

In the concluding maiden over the same distance, Jim Bolger and Kevin Manning could get on the score sheet with Croi Na Feile, a three-year-old filly that finished second to the well-fancied Mr Rock on its Wexford debut.

Although Croi Na Feile was beaten seven-odd lengths that day, she showed a willing attitude after racing greenly early on. She will certainly need to do better here, but there is every likelihood that she will. Of her 13 rivals, Wrap Star could give her most to do.

Indo Sport

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Irish Derby Runner up Kingfisher among leger 15 

Dee Stakes Winner Kingfisher 

Aidan O'Brien, with four Leger wins to his credit, has two relative outsiders this year in Irish Derby runner-up Kingfisher and Granddukeoftuscany who ran under par in the Great Voltigeur last time out, Kingfisher maybe used to set the pace for Australia in the Irish Champion Stakes and therefore would miss the leger but all to be confirmed.

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@donnacha_obrien @JosephOBrien2 @anaobrien2 @sobrien095 My Tribute to 4 Winners Congratulations Donnacha

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Quartz provides Donnacha O'Brien with his first winner
(Healy Racing Photos)

Donnacha O’Brien became the latest member of his illustrious family to ride a winner when recording a first success aboard Quartz in the Dundalk Stadium Apprentice Maiden.

His parents Aidan and Annemarie O’Brien both enjoyed plenty of success in the amateur riding ranks, while older brother Joseph is the current champion Flat jockey and sisters Sarah and Ana have also ridden plenty of winners.

The 16-year-old was having his 17th ride since initiating his career at Naas in July and, despite riding a well-backed 4/6 favourite, needed to show his strength to succeed here.

Duchess Andorra made most of the running under the experienced Colin Keane but was collared inside the final furlong of this mile event.

O’Brien’s mount kept on well to beat that rival by half a length, with Carrie Bow Caynearly three lengths further back in third.

Proud father Aidan O’Brien said, “I’m delighted he’s got his first winner. It’s great to get it. He’s only 16, and had a fall at Wexford on only his third ride and he was very lucky thank God. But it didn’t affect him at all.

“He’s a big fella and with the 10lb claim he will be able to claim off 9st5lb.”

(AM & GC)

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Johnny Murtagh, trains We'll Go Walking
(Healy Racing Photos)

The Ardilaun Hotel Oyster Stakes is the feature on day one of the Galway September meeting, and Aidan O'Briennumerically dominates the line-up for this Listed event with five of the 12 declared fillies.

Joseph O'Brien has elected to ride Shell House, twice a winner this season, and the daughter of Galileo has a three-figure rating thanks to her third to the Group Three Give Thanks Stakes at Cork.

The champion trainer's daughter Ana continues her regular partnership with Beyond Brilliance, while Beach Of Falesa, Exotic and Just Gorgeous also represent Ballydoyle in this mile and a half contest.

Johnny Murtagh is hopeful of a much better run from We'll Go Walking following a below par effort in the Hurry Harriet Stakes at Gowran Park last month.

The Authorized four-year-old won on debut and was Listed placed when trained byJim Bolger last term.

She has put up a number of creditable performances in Stakes company this season, including when second to Tarfasha in the Group Three Blue Wind Stakes at Naas.

Murtagh said: "We were disappointed with her the last time when she dropped out quickly. Gary (Carroll) said maybe he went a bit quick early, and we're hoping for a much better run.

"Her form has been good up until her last run. She is a little bit keen so we are hoping she will settle well and get the trip."

Murtagh rode the winner of this race three times this century for his former bossJohn Oxx, and the latter is represented by Tarana who carries a 3lb penalty for her Listed win in the Martin Molony Stakes at Limerick back in April.

The Aga Khan is further represented by the Dermot Weld-trained Ebeyina, while the dozen runners are completed by Lady Giselle, Altesse, Maid Of The Glens and Ode To Psyche.

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 Check It Out At Link Below 

http://www.aidanobrienfansite.com/rhodes-reports.php 

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Kingsbarns is hosting the inaugural #aobhour ! Live on Twitter Join us from 7-8pm. On Friday Nights Tag all tweets with #aobhour Everyone welcome Twitter Account necessary to join in the fun.

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Cougar Mountain will run in the Betfred Sprint Cup This Saturday & Joey Will Ride 

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AIDAN O'BRIEN Year By Year Stats Updated as of Ol' Man River WIn 31ST August 2014

Wins 1754 Prizemoney £91 Million Group Race Wins 495 G1 228 G2 83 G3 184

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Coolmore 2014: Is the Aidan O’Brien effect beyond explanation?

James Willoughby

Trainer Aidan O'Brien and son Joseph. RacingFotos.com

I was going to start this analysis of Coolmore Stud’s trainer Aidan O’Brien using a similar method as the one used to assess the true talent of a successful jockey like Ryan Moore. How do we reach an objective answer to the following questions: Is Aidan O’Brien really a brilliant trainer who upgrades the raw talent he receives? Or could many trainers achieve the same? Has he made the reputation of horses such as Galileo, or have they made his?

Then, I prepared the data and just completely gave up. I mean, what can you say? It isn’t just his collated flat results in Britain and Ireland:

It is more that nobody is really in a similar position, either in terms of the advantages in terms of stock, or the pressure of turning the raw material into results. But, even if some other trainer could be compared with him, it wouldn’t be fair.

Take Godolphin’s main trainer Saeed bin Suroor, who once represented an approximation of an adversary for O’Brien. Top-class flat racing in Britain and Ireland was once cast by the media as a battle of the superpowers Coolmore/Ballydoyle and Godolphin/Darley, those racing and breeding empires headed by John Magnier and Sheikh Mohammed in two shades of blue. They once constituted a kind of racing cold war.

What happened to that narrative? It’s gone, finished, settled forever, it seems, as long as O’Brien is in charge. It’s not like it’s always been plain sailing since 1993, with a notable weakness being the trainer’s occasional failure to meet the different challenges of racing on dirt (notwithstanding Johannesburg’s 2001 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile win) and in Australia. But he’s won 20 British Classics, 29 Irish Classics, and eight Breeders’ Cup races among more than 200 international Group/Grade 1 races in total. You can see why I didn’t pursue the original inquiry referred to in the introduction: Only one conclusion is credible, even if there ever was evidence to bring it into doubt.

When I outlined the first, most basic steps in properly assessing riders in the Ryan Moore article, the method was intuitive: The results of different riders cannot be compared until we discount the advantages of horsepower.

Unfortunately, it’s a far less tractable problem with trainers. A jockey plays a relatively minor influence on a horse’s physical talent outside the bounds of a race; different riders with the chance to ride the same horse on a given day are equally well disposed to achieve success. So, if a jockey rides a large sample of good-quality horses and achieves modest results, we can be fairly sure he isn’t very effective. 

But a trainer plays a vital role in the production of the baseline ability with which we judge the likelihood of success when a horse goes to post. While a trainer with a high strike-rate is likely to be a more effective practitioner than one with a poor strike-rate, we simply can’t be sure whether two trainers with a similar strike-rate are overachieving with moderate-quality stock or underachieving with good-quality runners. Sure, we could construct a metric that takes into account something like the median price of a trainer’s sales-bought stock, or their production costs in the case of owner-bred horses, but the whole exercise pretty soon becomes too messy from a mathematical perspective.

O’Brien starts with horses who are extremely well-bred and, mostly, very good-looking. Plenty fall by the wayside, as might be expected, but a consistent feature is that the best horses are usually identified at a very early stage by the trainer; the presupposed “pecking order” of Classic aspirants very often stays the same.

In 2014, there is one horse seemingly out on his own at the top of that pecking order - Australia. The son of – you guessed it – Galileo and the super mare Ouija Board, this colt is unbeaten in three starts and currently heads the betting for both the 2,000 Guineas and Derby.

This is the classic O’Brien wunderkind. When you watch him on tape – or witness a recent racecourse gallop at The Curragh, in which stablemate Johann Strauss went much better than him – it seems most unlikely he could muster the pace to win the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 3. But Australia has reportedly wowed connections on the gallops and we have been here before numerous times during O’Brien’s career; more often than not, elite performance follows rave review.

But not all top horses trained by O’Brien emerge immediately, and the trainer has the usual massed ranks of maiden winners and lightly-raced dark horses. And, while the 2014 season is still in its infancy, and most of the trainer’s runners seemingly short of peak fitness, the Montjeu filly Bracelet has already convinced many she is a top-notch prospect with victory in the Leopardstown 1,000 Guineas Trial.

Bracelet was guided to victory by the trainer’s son Joseph, whose 126 domestic winners last season enabled him to retain the Irish jockeys’ title with a record total. To repeat my mantra, counting stats are a hallmark of opportunity not quality, but the reputable jockey metrics I have seen rate the 20-year-old high. And research I have conducted strongly points to an ageing curve for flat jockeys on which Joseph has more than 10 years of improvement to come. That, of course, assumes he can maintain a racing weight, despite a lofty stature by jockeys’ standards. An able deputy for the trainer is a certain Ryan Moore, plus trusty stable riders in the underrated Seamie Heffernan and Colm O’Donoghue. 

It’s been an increasing trend at Ballydoyle to keep a strong contingent of older horses in training either because, as some maintain, there has been a change of policy from the Coolmore brains trust, or simply because most of O’Brien’s best horses are now by stallions whose progeny improve with age. Either way, it is exciting to see the Derby winner Ruler Of The World around as a  4-year-old, not to mention the Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Magician. Both disappointed in Dubai, but that will soon be just a statistic, in all likelihood.

While O’Brien’s numbers are phenomenal, they still don’t fully capture the impact he has on the sport. His mercurial personality inspires a strong prior that every move he makes has something of genius about it, even when it makes you scratch your head. Some of O’Brien’s strategies with pacemakers, for instance, have been utterly bizarre to this observer’s understanding of pace, but there is often good business sense for Coolmore behind what seems to be a bad bet for Ballydoyle.

Finally, permit me to depart from the rational. To the scientific mind, every cause should have its measurable effect, every change its tangible force, and every result its discernible process. If there is something beyond that, something humans with the nebulous gift can bring to bear in their influence over a horse – which numerous horsemen swear there is – then O’Brien must have it. I’ll admit to being deeply suspicious of its existence, but I have never forgotten the feeling of a one-time encounter with O’Brien in a private audience at Ballydoyle. He told me about his take on the racehorse’s mind with the kind of intensity and descriptive animation that I have never heard anyone else own in any field of endeavour in which I have been interested.

The unmeasurable, the indefinable, the irrational is quite often a conceit of man, but, if there is a gift to training racehorses, above and beyond method and attention to detail, O’Brien has it. And If he doesn’t, I swear nobody else does.

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Australia will run at Leopardstown

The presence of Aidan O’Brien’s dual Derby winner will be a highlight of the inaugural Irish champions’ weekend

Australia will run at Leopardstown on Saturday week. Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire.

Wed, Sep 3, 2014, 14:02

First published:Wed, Sep 3, 2014, 14:02Australia has been confirmed as a definite starter in the €1 million QIPCO IrishChampion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday week.

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Aidan O'Brien believes that Dick Whittington's victory in the Phoenix Stakes offered plenty of encouragement that he will stay further than six furlongs.

Dick Whittington: Phoenix Stakes winner

In his six runs to date, he has only tackled one race in excess of six furlongs when he finished third to Richard Pankhurst in the Chesham at Royal Ascot.

O'Brien feels he had a viable excuse that day, though, and he may be tempted by his entry in the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes over seven furlongs than the more than the Vision.ae Middle Park Stakes over six.

"Obviously he's had a few quickish runs so we gave him a little break after that (Phoenix) but we're very happy with him." O'Brien told At The Races.

"He's a horse with a lot of speed who travels very strongly but we were very happy the last day as it looked like he'd get further than six.

"We ran him over seven at Ascot but he was drawn badly in the middle of the track, so we were a bit worried that he wasn't going to get seven or a mile, but you'd imagine looking at him the last day that he probably will. He's a horse with a lot of speed."

O'Brien's string suffered health-wise early in the season which meant his juveniles were slower than usual coming to hand but he has unleashed some very promising types over the last few weeks.

"Our horses were sick in the spring and when the older horses got over it the two-year-olds got it, it just slowed up everything," he said.

"It looks like there's some nice horses arriving now.

"I was very happy with Highland Reel at Goodwood and I'm obviously very happy with Gleneagles. He quickened very well the last day - that's what you like when they travel well and quicken well.

"They are all in the National Stakes and it's very possible Gleneagles might go back for that if everything is well with him.

"I was delighted with Ol' Man River at the Curragh and John F Kennedy might go to Leopardstown for the race that Australia won on Champions Day (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Trial). We look forward to seeing him run again and he seems to be in good form since.

"We find out on the track like everyone else. Obviously Gleneagles has a lot of speed so he might be a Guineas-type horse rather than a Derby horse. A John F Kennedy might get the Derby trip."

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Whittington in Dewhurst picture

Thursday 4 September 2014

Aidan O'Brien believes that Dick Whittington's victory in the Phoenix Stakes offered plenty of encouragement that he will stay further than six furlongs.

In his six runs to date, the Rip Van Winkle colt has only tackled one race in excess of that trip, when he finished third to Richard Pankhurst in the Chesham at Royal Ascot.

O'Brien feels he had a viable excuse that day, though, and he may be tempted by his entry in the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes back over seven furlongs more than the Vision.ae Middle Park Stakes over six.

"Obviously he's had a few quickish runs so we gave him a little break after that (Phoenix) but we're very happy with him." O'Brien told At The Races.

"He's a horse with a lot of speed who travels very strongly but we were very happy the last day as it looked like he'd get further than six.

"We ran him over seven at Ascot but he was drawn badly in the middle of the track, so we were a bit worried that he wasn't going to get seven or a mile, but you'd imagine looking at him the last day that he probably will. He's a horse with a lot of speed."

O'Brien's string suffered health-wise early in the season which meant his juveniles were slower than usual coming to hand, but he has unleashed some very promising types over the last few weeks.

"Our horses were sick in the spring and when the older horses got over it the two-year-olds got it, it just slowed up everything," he said.

"It looks like there's some nice horses arriving now.

"I was very happy with Highland Reel at Goodwood and I'm obviously very happy with Gleneagles. He quickened very well the last day - that's what you like when they travel well and quicken well.

"They are all in the National Stakes and it's very possible Gleneagles might go back for that if everything is well with him.

"I was delighted with Ol' Man River at the Curragh and John F Kennedy might go to Leopardstown for the race that Australia won on Champions Day (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Trial). We look forward to seeing him run again and he seems to be in good form since.

"We find out on the track like everyone else. Obviously Gleneagles has a lot of speed so he might be a Guineas-type horse rather than a Derby horse. John F Kennedy might get the Derby trip."

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AOBFS Will be Publishing a free online yearbook sometime before the end of 

2014 I Am Currently working on a very (VERY) basic test you can see link below 

its just a very basic test page but it works. 

AOBFS YEARBOOK (Tester)
http://issuu.com/paulrhodes6/docs/flip_book_p1__1_/0 …

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Leading Light
(Healy Racing Photos)

Aidan O'Brien reports Leading Light to be in tip-top shape ahead of the Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger at the Curraghon September 14th.

Last year's Ladbrokes St Leger winner goes for his second Classic in good form having won all his three starts this season including the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

The four-year-old returned after a break to win the Irish St Leger Trial over the full course and distance.

"He had a break after Ascot and it was nice to get a run into him back at the Curragh," O'Brien told At The Races.

"We're very happy with him and he seems to be in good form since. Hopefully he will progress on to the Leger, his next start.

"Last year he went on from Doncaster to the Arc. He was drawn wide and was slowly away and got back behind a wall of horses and never got racing really. He finished a very fresh horse really.

"Obviously we will look to next year's Ascot Gold Cup again and the boys (owners) will decide after the Curragh if he will run again or finish for the year."

Among his rivals will be Dubai Gold Cup victor Certerach, who disappointed behind Pale Mimosa in the Lonsdale Cup at York last month.

"All being well he'll go for the Irish Leger," said trainer Mick Halford.

"He disappointed in York the last day but probably didn't travel as well as usual and I'm looking forward to getting him back on home turf so he won't have too far to go.

"We are shelving the Melbourne Cup this year and maybe think about it for next year. We'd love to go back to Dubai with him and I didn't want to jeopardise that.

"The Irish St Leger looks to be a wonderful, tough race. There are some great stayers around at the moment with Leading Light, Pale Mimosa and Royal Diamond. It will be very competitive, but it would be nice to be part of it all.

"He's ground dependent, so I'd be inclined to let him down after the Irish Leger and bring him back for Dubai."

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Australia
(Healy Racing Photos)

Aidan O'Brien insists having a pacemaker for his dual Derby winner Australia is not vital.

Kingfisher has helped set a strong enough gallop for the brilliant son of Galileo in his last three races - the English and Irish Derbys and the Juddmonte International.

He is also one of O'Brien's 15 entries in the Qipco Irish Champion Stakes atLeopardstown on September 13 when Australia is set to have his next start following his win at York last month.

"It's not vital but obviously Kingfisher has been with him in the Derbys and at York to make sure it's not a dawdle," O'Brien told At The Races.

"Australia cruises along and I don't think it's an advantage for anyone if it's a dawdle. Kingfisher is happy to go along with an even pace and if anyone wants to go faster that's fine too, but he sets a sensible pace and I think it suits most horses really.

"He had a break after the Derby and then we were just hoping he'd be ready in time to go to York.

"If he did he was going to go back for the Irish Champion and if we didn't run him at York we were going to go straight for the Irish Champion."

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The O'Brien family are supporting Jersey Day Charity

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Ratings Update: Ol Man enters Derby picture

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         Great Piece By Andrew O'Brien on Sadlers Wells > http://www.aidanobrienfansite.com/champion-stallions.php 

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Chicquita
(Healy Racing Photos)

Last year's Irish Oaks winner Chicquita is on course to make her eagerly-awaited seasonal debut in the Moyglare "Jewels" Blandford Stakes at the Curragh on September 14.

The filly was trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre when she landed the Curragh Classic and joined Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle stable after being sold for six million euros at a dispersal sale at Goffs in November.

Should all go well on her comeback then she could go to Longchamp for either the Prix de l'Opera or the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

"Hopefully the plan is to start her at the Curragh in the mile and a quarter fillies race," O'Brien told At The Races.

"Everything has been going well so far and we will hopefully start her there and go from there, but it's so far so good with her.

"We will start there and then there's the Arc weekend when she has the fillies race or the Arc. I suppose we'll get her started first, see how that goes, and then a pick a race after that."

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RULER IN LINE FOR FOY RETURN
02 Sep 2014

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Tapestry seen here beating Taghrooda
(Healy Racing Photos)

Aidan O'Brien has two good reasons to give Tapestry her next start in the Coolmore Fastnet Rock Matron Stakes at Leopardstown on September 13.

Ireland's champion trainer wants to run her on home soil and over a shorter trip following her shock victory over Taghrooda in the mile and a half Yorkshire Oaks.

"We probably wouldn't like to travel her again for her next start, so it is very possible she'll stay at home and it's very possible she'll run in the Matron (over a mile)," O'Brien told At The Races.

"We'd maybe rather stay at home and not go a mile and a half. She can step up in trip again after that.

"She'll obviously have an option Arc weekend after that or she'll have an option to miss that and go to America, so there's a big chance she'll stay home and go for the Matron."

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CHICQUITA NEARS RETURN

Chicquita Parading at Goffs Before her 6 Million Euro Move to Ballydoyle

Last year's Irish Oaks winner Chicquita is on course to make her eagerly-awaited seasonal debut in the Moyglare "Jewels" Blandford Stakes at the Curragh on September 14.

The filly was trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre when she landed the Curragh Classic and joined Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle stable after being sold for six million euros at a dispersal sale at Goffs in November.

Should all go well on her comeback then she could go to Longchamp for either the Prix de l'Opera or the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

"Hopefully the plan is to start her at the Curragh in the mile and a quarter fillies race," O'Brien told At The Races.

"Everything has been going well so far and we will hopefully start her there and go from there, but it's so far so good with her.

"We will start there and then there's the Arc weekend when she has the fillies race or the Arc. I suppose we'll get her started first, see how that goes, and then a pick a race after that."

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9

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Ben Linfoot discusses Aidan O'Brien's domination of the Epsom Derby and looks at six of his contenders for 2015.

• 

1 / 3

John F Kennedy: Full-brother to Tapestry

In 234 years of horse racing history, no trainer had ever won the Derby at Epsom three years consecutively until Aidan O’Brien achieved the remarkable feat in June.

Australia’s success in the 235th running of the sport’s most celebrated Classic followed victories by Camelot and Ruler Of The World to ensure the Ballydoyle handler added another record to his bulging collection.

Only Kris Kin denied O’Brien from rattling in the hat-trick over a decade earlier, as The Great Gatsby finished second to the Sir Michael Stoute-trained horse in 2003, the year after High Chaparral and immediately before him Galileo had stormed to Classic victory on the Downs.

O’Brien’s record of five wins in the Derby is the best by a modern handler. He’s closing in on the six achieved by his Ballydoyle predecessor Vincent O’Brien and the record of seven held by Robert Robson, John Porter and Fred Darling.

Arguably, Australia’s success is the most important of O’Brien’s career. The time will come when Galileo’s stock has run dry, for want of a better phrase, and Australia, his son, out of the great race mare Ouija Board, is perfect material for the Coolmore marketers.

Unbeaten he isn’t, but he has won three Group Ones on the trot including two Derbys and the all-important 10-furlong prize. Another defeat on his record won’t do, and while Galileo himself unsuccessfully ended his career with a sixth behind Tiznow and Sakhee in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, such a bold campaign looks unlikely for Australia. He’s just too important.

A trip Stateside looks unlikely, as does the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. It’s unfortunate, as you want to see the best horses in the best races, but perhaps that is unfair to the Champions Stakes run on both sides of the Irish Sea. Australia certainly looks like lining up in at least one, and maybe both, of those.

But I digress. O’Brien’s domination of the Epsom Classic is concurrent and the chances are he’ll be the first trainer to win a fourth Derby in a row come June 2015 looking at the present ante-post betting for the great race.

It isn’t surprising that O’Brien-trained horses dominate the market for the Derby nine months before the contest. They always do. But for him to train the first six in the betting at this stage is quite remarkable. A quick straw poll of the Sky Bet racing traders when asked to provide an estimate of the price O’Brien would be to win next year’s Derby saw odds ranging from Evens to 6/4. They weren’t prepared to offer it on site, though, understandably!

After Camelot won his maiden in the July of 2011 he was a 12/1 chance to win the Derby, while Australia was 16/1 prior to his demolition of Free Eagle in the September of 2013. Camelot returned at 8/13 at Epsom, Australia 11/8. Clearly, there is a temptation to beat the book here. Time to look at the ‘Ballydoyle Six’ in question…

John F Kennedy

By Galileo out of Rumplestiltskin, John F Kennedy is a full brother to recent Yorkshire Oaks winner Tapestry and he stormed to Derby favouritism in some lists after a ready success in a Curragh maiden on his second start. As expected, he improved from his first start emphatically, cruising to an easy four-and-three-quarter length success over Pincode.

What Aidan said: "He's still very babyish. Mentally he's still a bit immature, although physically he's mature. The penny never dropped the first day at Leopardstown. He's a very smart colt, and we'll probably take our time with him."

Highland Reel

Another son of Galileo, Highland Reel was also beaten on debut at Leopardstown and, like JFK, he learnt from that experience in stylish fashion, slamming maiden opposition by an easy 12 lengths at Gowran on his next start. Since then he’s been out once, winning the Vintage Stakes at Glorious Goodwood – a first success in the Group Two contest for O’Brien. He was visually impressive that day, but the form hasn’t really been franked by any of the beaten horses since (no winners from six runners).

What Aidan said: "He was a very impressive winner of his maiden the last day and Joseph was very happy with him. He said he had a lot of speed. This race just fell really nicely. The spacing of the race worked out just lovely. He has a lot of speed and a lot of natural energy. He's by Galileo and they can be classy and sharp. Joseph travelled well into the straight and then went to the line very strong. Obviously he has lots of options, the Futurity and the National Stakes would be two of them."

Ol’ Man River

By Montjeu, out of dual-Guineas winner Finsceal Beo, Ol’ Man River has a touch of the Australia’s about him. Okay, he’s not bred by a Derby winner out of an Oaks winner, but as alternatives go this isn’t a bad pairing and the Ballydoyle work watchers were purring about the 2.85million Euro purchase before his debut. Sent off at 11/10 for a well-contested Curragh maiden, he cruised through the race, beating the aforementioned Pincode by almost twice as far as JFK had.

What Aidan said: “You'd have to be delighted with that first time. He's never been away and this was his first day on the track. It looked a good solid race and he travelled very strongly. He had to get tired going that gallop first time, but he cruised into the lead. We'll take our time with him and won't be in any panic. We'd rather go gentle and see what's going to happen. The good thing about him is he's a strong traveller and seems to have plenty of pace. Looking at today he wouldn't mind going back to seven furlongs. He was working with plenty of class and showing plenty of pace at home. You are always afraid first time what will happen and he was drawn in the car park. If we had a preference we'd rather go faster than softer, ground-wise."

Sir Isaac Newton

The only one of the O’Brien sextet that hasn’t had a race, that he’s fourth in the betting at 25/1 despite not seeing a racetrack is testament to his reputation at home. By Galileo out of the Danehill mare Shastye, the 3.6million Euro purchase is a full-brother to 2013 Oaks runner-up Secret Gesture and is entered in everything, from the National Stakes to the Dewhurst to the Derby.

What Aidan said: Nothing as yet. Well, not to us anyway.

Gleneagles

Another son of Galileo and the one with the best form – so far. He too was beaten on debut, but has won three times since including the Group Two Futurity Stakes at the Curragh on August 24. He showed a nice turn of foot that day and did it nicely enough, attaining a rating of 112 in the process – 1lb higher than what Highland Reel was awarded following his Goodwood success. Looks to have plenty of speed and is a full-brother to stablemate Marvellous, this year’s Irish 1,000 Guineas winner.

What Aidan said: "I'm delighted with that. He quickened up really well, but didn't do much in front. He had to move when the gap opened on the rail. He could possibly come back here for the National Stakes, but he has plenty of options. He has plenty of speed. He's able to change gears. He quickened up there and went two or three lengths up easily, but then started to idle."

Homeland

Yet another son of Galileo and this one’s a half-brother to 2009 Golden Jubilee winner Art Connoisseur. Sent off at 1/3 for his debut at Listowel in June, he won easily enough despite a slight stumble late in the race. Nothing in behind has done anything for the form since, but he has an entry in the Beresford Stakes at the Curragh on September 28.

What Joseph said: "He has been working well at home and I think he'll improve for that. He was quite green and a bit on and off the bridle but in the last furlong he was always comfortable. It's the first time he has been hitting ridges and running on a tight track but in fairness it's really good ground."

Conclusion

These things need a conclusion, don’t they? It’s very difficult to summarise with any degree of confidence which of these six will turn out to be the best, given each of them has so much potential. If it’s a price thing, Gleneagles is probably the one at 25/1 given he’s shown a high-level of ability already. If it’s a breeding thing then Sir Isaac Newton makes plenty of appeal given he’s a son of Galileo whose sister was second in the Oaks. And if it’s a gut-feeling thing then Ol’ Man River is my fancy after his impressive debut at the Curragh. That tenuous line of form through Pincode gives us some sort of comparison between him and John F Kennedy, too, and at 16s he could be the one. Good luck if you’re tempted enough to chance one of the ‘Ballydoyle Six’ nine months before the big one.

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                       Owners Page Updated (Added Doreen Tabor) >>>   HERE

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Due Diligence pictured at home
(Healy Racing Photos)

Aidan O'Brien could be without a runner in Saturday's Betfred Sprint Cup after ruling Due Diligence out of the Haydock Group One.

The three-year-old was last seen when finishing second to Slade Powerin the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in June and is one of five possibles for O'Brien at this stage.

However, the Ballydoyle handler is not planning to run Due Diligence and may also skip the race with Cougar Mountain, Darwin, Fountain Of Youth and Guerre.

He told the Irish Times: "Due Diligence won't run and it's possible we won't have a runner in the race at all."

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                    New Competition & Page for the off season check it out  > Here

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