The brilliant 3-year-old filly Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose five Group 1 wins in 2016 included a pair of Classics and a victory over elder males in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S., was named Cartier Horse of the Year and Cartier 3-year-old filly at the Cartier Racing Awards at the Dorchester Hotel in London on Tuesday night.
Trained by Aidan O'Brien for a Coolmore partnership, Minding was last year's Cartier 2-year-old filly champion on the merit of wins in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. and G1 Dubai Fillies' Mile. She opened her season with a victory in the G1 Qipco 1000 Guineas. She missed winning the Irish equivalent by a head before embarking on a three-race Group 1 win streak in the Investec Oaks, Pretty Polly S. and G1 Qatar Nassau S. Third in the G1 Qipco Irish Champion S. Sept. 10, she bounced back to win the QEII Oct. 15. Minding beat out Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Found (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Postponed (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Horse of the Year category, and stablemate Alice Springs (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), as well as Quiet Reflection (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) and La Cressonniere (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), for 3-year-old filly honours.
Minding was the headline act on a night that saw the Coolmore partners Sue Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor set a Cartier awards record as the owners of five of the eight equine award winners. All five are trained by Aidan O'Brien, who himself won the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit.
'TDN Rising Star' Found, who led home a historic 1-2-3 for O'Brien and the Coolmore partners in the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, beat out Postponed, Highland Reel and Limato (Ire) (Tagula {Ire}) for the Cartier Older Horse award. Found had finished second in five consecutive Group 1s this year before her Arc breakthrough, and the hard-knocking mare wrapped up the year with a second in the Champion S. and a third in last weekend's GI Breeders' Cup Turf. Coolmore's Order Of St George (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) won the Cartier Stayer Award on the merit of his victory in this year's G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, and Churchill (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was named Cartier 2-year-old colt after winning the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. and the G1 Dubai Dewhurst S.
“I would like to extend my congratulations to the Coolmore team on the phenomenal achievement of gaining a record five awards at the 26th annual Cartier Racing Awards,” said Harry Herbert, Cartier's racing consultant. “Minding and Found are brilliant fillies, while Order Of St George is a stayer out of the top drawer and Churchill's performances bode well for 2017. Aidan O'Brien's achievements, with Minding, Found, Order of St George and Churchill–plus many others in 2016 and during the last 25 years–speak for themselves, and this outstanding trainer richly deserves the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit.
Ecurie Antonio Caro and Gerard Augustin-Normand's Almanzor was named Cartier 3-year-old male. After finishing third on seasonal debut in the G3 Prix de Fontainebleau Apr. 20, the Jean-Claude Rouget trainee went unbeaten in five starts through the rest of the season, winning the G1 Prix du Jockey Club before doubling up in the Irish Champion and Champion S. in the fall. Almanzor is set to race on next year.
Quiet Reflection (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) made history at the awards by becoming the first-ever female to receive the Cartier Sprinter award. The Karl Burke trainee earned a first Group 1 win in Royal Ascot's G1 Commonwealth Cup June 17, and added the G1 32Red Sprint Cup S. in September after finishing third in the G1 Darley July Cup. She beat out Limato, Mecca's Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and The Tin Man (GB) (Equiano {Fr}) in a tight finish for the award.
The final equine winner, Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy), also made Cartier award history by becoming the first American-trained runner to win a Cartier Racing Award when she took the 2-year-old filly category. Named a 'TDN Rising Star' when breaking her maiden at Keeneland, Lady Aurelia shipped to Royal Ascot for trainer Wesley Ward and Stonestreet Stable and partners to win the G2 Queen Mary S. by seven lengths. She returned to Europe in August to take the G1 Darley Prix Morny at Deauville and was third in the G1 Cheveley Park S. Sept. 24.
“It is thrilling to see the Cartier 2-year-old filly award go to the American-trained Lady Aurelia, emphasising how international racing has become,” Herbert said. “The 3-year-old filly Quiet Reflection is a worthy winner of the Cartier Sprint Award, while Almanzor's dominance at 10 furlongs is testament to superb handling.”
O'Brien Receives Award Of Merit…
Aidan O'Brien, champion trainer 19 times on the flat in Ireland and five times on the flat in Britain, has earned the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit for a career in which he has also won 25 British Classics, 34 Irish Classics and more than 250 Group 1 races worldwide. O'Brien's former boss, master trainer Jim Bolger, summarised O'Brien by saying, “He's a quick learner, very intelligent, a popular young man. His industry and dedication are tremendous. I'd have done anything short of marrying him to keep him working for me.”
One of six children of Stella and Denis O'Brien, Aidan O'Brien left school in the fifth form to work for Curragh trainer PJ Finn. O'Brien soon started working for Bolger, where he met his wife, Annemarie. Aidan and Annemarie began training in 1992 at Piltown in Co. Kilkenny, where their eldest son Joseph is now based. The training license was initially in Annemarie's name, but Aidan took over after the birth of Joseph in May 1993. O'Brien started out with a mix of jumpers and flat horses, and quickly established himself as a rising star of the Irish training ranks, and was named champion jumps trainer each season between 1993/94 and 1997/98.
O'Brien trained his first group winner on the flat in 1994, the same year the legendary Vincent O'Brien retired from training at Ballydoyle. O'Brien was head-hunted by Coolmore master John Magnier to take over at Ballydoyle, and Magnier recalled, “What first attracted me to Aidan was quite simple. Every day in Coolmore I pick up the papers and give them a good read. Every day this fella O'Brien was training a winner, then it became two winners and then three. It was clearly more than just a trend. It became quite extraordinary.”
It didn't take long for O'Brien's genius to take effect at Ballydoyle. In 1997 he won three of the five Irish Classics with Desert King and Classic Park, and the following year he won the G1 2000 Guineas and G1 Epsom Oaks with King of Kings and Shahtoush.
Notable highlights for O'Brien after the turn of the century include the five Group 1 wins of Giant's Causeway (Storm Cat); a first G1 Epsom Derby with Galileo (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), who also went on to add the G1 Irish Derby and the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. and is the foundation for the Ballydoyle programme today; five-time Group 1 winner Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire) (Danehill); Derby and dual GI Breeders' Cup Turf winner High Chaparral (Ire) (Sadler's Wells); four-time G1 Gold Cup winner Yeats (Ire) (Sadler's Wells); and other standouts like George Washington (Ire) (Danehill), Henrythenavigator (Kingmambo), Duke Of Marmalade (Ire) (Danehill), Dylan Thomas (Ire) (Danehill), So You Think (NZ) (High Chaparral {Ire}), Starspangledbanner (Aus) (Choisir {Aus}), Camelot (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}), Australia (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) and St Nicholas Abbey (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}).
O'Brien has enjoyed another vintage season in 2016, training the winners of 22 Grade/Group 1 races including an unprecedented 1-2-3 in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe with progeny of Galileo.
While he still likely has many successful years ahead of him, O'Brien's legacy will also be carried on by his children. Joseph, also a champion and Classic-winning jockey, got off to a remarkable start in his first year of training in 2016, highlighted by a win with Intricately (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. at the age of 23. In the saddle that day was his 18-year-old brother Donnacha, Ireland's champion apprentice jockey. Daughters Ana and Sarah are also successful jockeys.
Part of O'Brien's legacy will also be his great character. Magnier noted, “Dealing with him at Ballydoyle, you notice how he keeps everything simple. He has the most logical of minds and has never become swollen-headed. He takes just the same size in hats as when he first walked in the door.”
Click here for a recent TDN Podcast with Aidan O'Brien.
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