Aidan O'Brien

Buried on a Thursday evening fixture, Leopardstown's double-act of Group 3 races, the Japan Racing Association Tyros S. and Silver Flash S., could easily be downplayed in a month where so many seismic shifts are taking place. A glance at the races' honour roll suggests the opposite should be the case, with the Tyros in particular boasting three subsequent Classic winners in the last eight years. They were the Galileo (Ire) trio of Gleneagles (Ire), Churchill (Ire) and Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) and all hailed from Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle stable...

There was a competitive line-up for The Curragh's G2 Kilboy Estate S. on Sunday and it was Ballydoyle's Lily Pond (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who proved toughest as the 3-year-olds filled out the first three places in the nine-furlong feature. Building a smart portfolio since her winning debut at Dundalk Apr. 12, the bay was runner-up in the G3 Blue Wind S. at a mile and a quarter at Naas May 7 and third in the 12-furlong G3 Munster Oaks at Cork June 8 before finding the 14-furlong test of Leopardstown's...

Winless in five starts since annexing last year's edition of the Curragh's G2 Romanised Minstrel S., 2020's GI Breeders' Cup Mile hero Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}--Senta's Dream {GB}, by Danehill) repeated the dose with a 3 1/2-length triumph in Sunday's latest renewal of the seven-furlong contest at the Co. Kildare venue. The 5-year-old entire, who also hit the board in last term's G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois and G1 Prix du Moulin, arrived for this defence coming back off a third in last month's G1 Queen Anne S....

Nailed in the dying strides of last month's G2 Railway S. at The Curragh, Aidan O'Brien trainee Blackbeard (Ire) (No Nay Never--Muirin {Ire}, by Born To Sea {Ire}) bounced back in style to lead home a Ballydoyle exacta in Sunday's G2 Darley Prix Robert Papin at Chantilly. In so doing, he provided trainer O'Brien with a first winner of the six-furlong contest this century and, adding to Rossini's win in 1999, a second overall. The February-foaled bay had earlier backed up an Apr. 28 debut triumph at Dundalk with wins...

It's getting hotter by the hour in Europe and Sunday's pattern-race tests at Chantilly and The Curragh will call for that extra element from the protagonists who brave the heat. One who has shown abundant courage despite being just a greenhorn is Ballydoyle's Blackbeard (Ire) (No Nay Never), who tackles the six-furlong G2 Darley Prix Robert Papin which will be his sixth juvenile start and third since his impressive success in The Curragh's G3 Marble Hill S. over this trip May 21. Aidan O'Brien is not known for taking in...

He had already looked one of Ballydoyle's brightest prospects prior to Saturday's G3 Jebel Ali Racecourse And Stables Anglesey S., but TDN Rising Star Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) now looks the real deal after running away with The Curragh's juvenile staging post. Withdrawn from the G2 July S. when the ground got too quick at Newmarket, the June 15 Listed Windsor Castle S. winner led all bar the rail-running Kodi Noir (Ire) (Kessaar {Ire}) throughout the early stages with that outsider on borrowed time. Asked to pick...

Westerberg and Coolmore's 450,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 yearling Hans Andersen (GB) (Frankel {GB}--Shadow Hunter {Ire}, by Arcano {Ire}) gained much benefit for his debut run, tackling an extended seven furlongs at Tipperary last month, and earned a 'TDN Rising Star' badge with a dominant display down to seven furlongs for Saturday's Juddmonte Farms Expert Eye Irish EBF (C&G) Maiden at the Curragh. The 10-11 favourite was sharply into stride to gain immediate control. Nudged along when the pack threatened approaching the quarter-mile marker, he held a comfortable buffer entering...

Emily Upjohn (GB) (Frankel {GB}) couldn't make the flight, so it's time to move on and focus on those left to fight out Saturday's G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks at the Curragh, which unusually features none of the fillies who participated in the Oaks. That means that it is even more of a puzzle, with Zhang Yuesheng's June 16 G2 Ribblesdale S. winner Magical Lagoon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) left as short-priced favourite even though she is yet to tackle Group 1 company. What her half-length defeat of Sea Silk Road (Ire)...

They have reached dizzy heights as breeders and now Gillian and Vimal Khosla are concentrating on achieving big-race success as owners with Fennela (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), a daughter of their outstanding broodmare Green Room (Theatrical {Ire}), in Saturday's G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks. The Khoslas know a thing or two about breeding top-notchers. Green Room is the dam of three Group 1 or Classic winners and the owner-breeders behind the 20-year-old blue hen are hoping there is still more to come.  Lord Shanakill (Speightstown) was the first horse to...

He's a rebel with a Causeway. But he is a rebel, all the same; or a maverick, at least; an outlier. Certainly we can't expect everyone to train horses like Kenny McPeek, nor indeed to buy them the same way. Apart from anything else, most people simply wouldn't be good enough. McPeek's 10 millionaires to date have been sired by the likes of Cuvee, Louis Quatorze, Daredevil, Hit It a Bomb and Tejano--and he signed for most of them himself. As one who marches to his own drum, his style...

Eight fillies will head postward for Saturday's G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks following Thursday morning's confirmation of final declarations for the €500,000 Classic. The Co. Kildare venue will be denied the opportunity of a rematch between Epsom's G1 Oaks first and second, Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), with the former being the highest-profile absentee from the select field. Aidan O'Brien will instead rely on Toy (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}, who is set to be partnered by Ryan Moore, Wayne Lordan's mount History (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}...

Delivering the potent acceleration that had seen her claim joint-champion status among the juvenile fillies in the G1 Cheveley Park S. at Newmarket in September, TDN Rising Star Tenebrism (Caravaggio) was firmly in command under optimum conditions in Deauville's seven-furlong G1 Haras d'Etreham Prix Jean Prat on Sunday. Able to draft in mid-pack early, Ballydoyle's 13-2 shot who sports the Westerberg silks was unleashed between Lusail (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) and Rozgar (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) and after gaining the lead 100 metres from the line stayed on strongly to...