Annemarie O'Brien

ASCOT, UK -- Far from the madding crowd of the royal meeting, the exploits of those five heady days were still being celebrated at Ascot on Friday. And rightly so, for this was the day of the annual Royal Ascot winning breeders' lunch, a lovely touch from the racecourse to recognise those who make this great sport happen.  There's no one-upmanship here. Every breeder will tell you how much they need the owners - most of them are also owners themselves - and all the various participants in racing matter,...

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...

Ever since Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio)'s win in the G3 Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies Sprint S. at Naas last month, bloodstock agent Mark McStay had been pestering Taylor Made's Mark Taylor to make his plans to come to Royal Ascot. But the Taylor family is more known for probity and hard work than they are flights of fancy, and Taylor demurred, citing preparations for upcoming sales in America. But when Porta Fortuna launched a determined bid and got up for the win in Friday's G3 Albany S. at Ascot...

When Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio {Ire}) won the G3 Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies Sprint S. at Naas on Sunday, there was a collective cheer from her new partners across the pond. Medallion Racing, a racing partnership put together by Taylor Made Farm, bought the two-year-old filly after her five-furlong win at the Curragh in April with partners Barry Fowler, Steve Weston and Dean Reeves. She took the Sunday stakes at Naas in just her second start, her first for the new partners, and now will head to Royal Ascot....

Former world champion 3-year-old Rock of Gibraltar (Ire) (Danehill--Offshore Boom {GB}, by Be My Guest) has died from heart failure at Castlehyde Stud in Ireland at the age of 23. The son of Danehill was bred by the late Joe Crowley with his daughter Annemarie and son-in-law Aidan O'Brien. He was sent into training with the latter at Ballydoyle as a juvenile in 2001, later racing for the partnership of Sir Alex Ferguson and Susan Magnier. Rock Of Gibraltar's sensational racing career, which saw him land seven consecutive Group 1...

Racing fans who have always had a bit of trouble believing in the magic that goes on behind the gates at Ballydoyle or at Owning Hill need not look any further than the result of last week's Ballyhane S. at Naas. There are some people, so hell-bent in their views that the sole reason why Aidan and Joseph O'Brien have conquered some of the greatest prizes in racing, is because they have all the best horses at their disposal. It sounds somewhat plausible, doesn't it? Aidan and Joseph have been...

Some enterprises of great pitch and moment take years to come to fruition. Some take just a few weeks. The latter scenario is true of the new partnership between bloodstock agent Justin Casse and trainer Joseph O'Brien. When Magnolia Racing Syndicate spent €562,000 at the recent Goffs Orby Sale, the group was built on relationships years in the making, but sprouted quickly from an idea into action. "I started kicking the idea of a transatlantic syndicate around three or four months ago," said Casse. "The fine-tuning part of who would...

Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}-Senta's Dream {GB}, by Danehill), the winner of this year's GI Belmont Oaks Invitational S. and GI Beverly D. S., has died after suffering complications from a fractured pelvis. "Unfortunately she had fractured her pelvis and that displaced overnight," said trainer Aidan O'Brien. "It's terrible really, when it displaced it caused internal bleeding and we didn't have any choice as she was in a lot of pain. It's such a shame." Bred by Aidan and Annemarie O'Brien's Whisperview Trading, Santa Barbara won her lone start at...

Scott Heider has purchased the July 22 G3 Silver Flash S. winner Agartha (Ire) (Caravaggio) from breeder Annemarie O'Brien, with the 2-year-old filly set to stay in training with Joseph O'Brien. One of three first-crop stakes winners thus far for Caravaggio, Agartha was placed on four occasions-including second-place finishes to 'TDN Rising Stars' Sacred Bridge (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) and Homeless Songs (Ire) Frankel {GB})--before breaking her maiden by 2 3/4 lengths in the Silver Flash. She is the first foal out of Arya Tara (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}), with...

Now I do realise that I am in a minority of one here. But while everyone else seems to perceive some unique alchemy between Galileo (Ire) and Danehill, to me the number of good horses obtained by that cross is pretty much as you should expect when one breed-shaping stallion is mated with the daughters of another. After all, their dams will in turn have been well-bred and/or accomplished runners, simply to have gained access to an elite sire. If we call this "selective breeding", we are surely flattering ourselves....

Aidan O'Brien described Pat Smullen as "irreplaceable" on Thursday, two days after his brother-in-law and nine-time Irish champion jockey lost his battle with pancreatic cancer aged 43. While Smullen's and O'Brien's wives Frances Crowley and Annemarie O'Brien are sisters and highly accomplished horsewomen, Smullen spent much of his career in rivalry with O'Brien as stable jockey to Dermot Weld. "Pat was one very special person--one of these people you meet once in a lifetime," O'Brien told Sky Sports Racing. "He is irreplaceable. He was genuine, tough, consistent--an unbelievable horseman and...

Joe Crowley, one of the most popular and respected as well as one of the most significant figures in Irish racing in recent decades, has passed away at the age of 91. He enjoyed notable success as both trainer and breeder, while further glory has been brought to his farm at Owning Hill near Piltown in Co. Kilkenny at various times by his daughters Annemarie and Frances, by his son-in-law Aidan O'Brien and, currently, by his grandson Joseph O'Brien. Joe Crowley began life as a farmer but his love of...