Aidan O'Brien

With Chester's Derby and Oaks pointers failing to unearth a dazzling candidate this week, it is the turn of Lingfield on Saturday to potentially provide a clearer picture of how the Epsom Classics will shape up. The Listed Derby Trial, which has produced one Blue Riband hero in recent times in Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), sees Ballydoyle bring across their G3 Ballysax S. second and third The Euphrates (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Illinois (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Ryan Moore keeping the faith in the latter. All the evidence...

Coolmore's Capulet (Justify--Wedding Vow {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) followed up an Aug. 15 debut victory at Dundalk with placed efforts in September's G2 Golden Fleece S. and G2 Royal Lodge S., and went postward for Thursday's Listed Boodles Raindance Dee S. at Chester coming back off a third over one mile at Chelmsford, behind the reopposing Bracken's Laugh (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), on sophomore return last month. Sent into an immediate lead by Ryan Moore, the 7-2 chance held sway throughout the extended 10-furlong test and stayed on relentlessly under continued...

After the shell-shock of City Of Troy's performance in Saturday's 2000 Guineas still reverberating, the Derby has a much more open look than it did last week and so the focus on Chester's May Festival will be even keener than usual. Wednesday's G3 Boodles Chester Vase has supplied the Blue Riband hero twice since 2013 and with a record 10 successes it is clear that Aidan O'Brien has come to prioritise the trial for his Epsom hopefuls. Ryan Moore had the pick of a duo this time and has opted...

City Of Troy (Justify) and Arabian Crown (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) head the betting for the G1 Derby after the latest entries were released on Tuesday. Of the 69 set to run in late April, just 41 remain after the latest scratching deadline for the Classic, which will be run at Epsom on Saturday, June 1. A baker's dozen haven been entered by Aidan O'Brien for the Coolmore partners, anchored by City Of Troy, despite his puzzling ninth-place finish in last Saturday's G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas. Last season's G1 Dewhurst S....

Aidan O'Brien trainee Whistlejacket (Ire) (No Nay Never--Adventure Seeker {Fr}, by Bering {GB}) debuted with a runner-up finish in an Apr. 21 six-furlong maiden at the Curragh and made no mistake dropped down in trip for Monday's Listed GAIN First Flier S. back at the Co. Kildare venue. Sharply into stride to race on the front end from flagfall in this black-type bow, the 500,000gns Tattersalls Book 1 graduate was shaken up soon after passing the quarter-mile pole and surged clear under continued urging inside the final furlong to easily...

Aidan O'Brien has suggested that he left City Of Troy (Justify) "too fresh" ahead of what turned out to be a bitterly disappointing return in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday but went on to explain that last season's European Champion Two-Year-Old remains on course to run in the Derby.  City Of Troy trailed home in ninth, beaten 17 lengths by the winner Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), despite being sent off at odds of 4-6 for the 2,000 Guineas. He can now be backed at odds as big...

Newmarket Heath's nude brutality awaits a clutch of elite 3-year-olds on Saturday, from the ones who have flashed unusual prowess in the major juvenile exposés to those whose flashes of luminosity have come on smaller and less expected stages. The Rowley Mile's designated strip for the 2000 Guineas is as hostile this horrid Spring as it ever has been and Friday's grey skies and rain only served to extend Europe's winter hangover. Indifferent to weakness, expecting many a flinch and fold from the competitors lined up for the first Classic...

Team Ballydoyle's crack colt City Of Troy (Justify) has 10 peers to overcome in Saturday's G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in his quest to follow the hoofprints of the wonderhorse with which he has drawn early comparison. With the stable removing all of his understudies including the similarly-unbeaten Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) on Thursday morning, the assembled cast will be the smallest for the time-honoured Rowley Mile Classic since 2017 when Ryan Moore enjoyed his last winning ride on Churchill (Ire). Three of the colts dispatched by Coolmore's...

We could run the numbers, as they say. What they will tell us is that Aidan O'Brien has dominated racing both in his home country of Ireland and its nearest neighbour, where he will this Saturday be inducted into the QIPCO British Horseracing Hall of Fame.  It doesn't end there, of course. He is known and revered around the world, his tally of 419 Group or Grade 1 winners (including National Hunt) having also been chalked up in America, Australia, Canada, Dubai, France, Hong Kong and Italy. No other trainer...

Godolphin's Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and the Coolmore partners' Tower Of London (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) have both been entered in the G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup at Sha Tin in Hong Kong on Sunday, May 26, the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) revealed on Tuesday. The pair are the only overseas entrants in the 2400-metre contest, which is the final Group 1 of the Hong Kong season with a purse of HK$13 million (£1.3 million). Both horses are also coming off of victories on Dubai World Cup...

Aidan O'Brien is to be inducted into the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame during the QIPCO Guineas Festival at Newmarket on Saturday.  The 54-year-old Irishman follows his Ballydoyle predecessor Vincent O'Brien, along with Sir Michael Stoute and Sir Henry Cecil, as the fourth trainer to be nominated for inclusion in the official Hall of Fame for British Flat racing, which was launched in 2021. He said, "It is incredible, and a privilege for us, as it is something we would never have expected. "The people, and horses, that...

Trade Nation, an online global trading platform and fintech, has announced the new sponsorship of the London Gold Cup via a release on Monday. The handicap contest is set as the third race on Al Shaqab Lockinge with Ladies Day on Saturday, May 18.  It is restricted to 3-year-olds, and will be run for a prize of £100,000. Last year's renewal was won by the Aidan O'Brien-trained, Ryan Moore-ridden Bertinelli (Justify). "We are delighted to announce the new partnership with Trade Nation. As a fast-growing international trading platform who are...