Ballydoyle

It was a pretty quiet racing week here, so this installment of snippets is a little European-centric. We hope you find it interesting. The Mind Boggles... Tuesday's win in the G1 Cazoo Oaks at Epsom gave Aidan O'Brien a record 41st British Classic winner, including 10 wins in the Oaks. Tuesday was also the 94th Group 1 winner for her sire, Galileo and the second Oaks heroine and third Classic winner for her dam, Lillie Langtry (following Minding and Empress Josephine). Coolmore/Ballydoyle's stats never cease to amaze. Pletch Being Pletch......

Coolmore boss John Magnier has led the tributes to one of the sport's biggest icons, the legendary nine-time Derby-winning jockey Lester Piggott, who he labelled as "the greatest" following his death at the age of 86. Piggott rode his first Derby victory for former Ballydoyle boss, the late Vincent O'Brien, in 1968 aboard Sir Ivor. They combined to win the race four times together, including with Nijinsky (Can) in 1970, Roberto in 1972 and The Minstrel (Can), for whom the colt's owner Robert Sangster, Piggott was then contracted to ride...

Coolmore and Westerberg's hitherto unbeaten 2-year-old filly Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never--Pembina {Ire}, by Dalakhani {Ire}) impressed with a 3 1/4-length debut tally tackling five furlongs at the Curragh last month and was equally adept over the six-furlong strip at Naas to secure Sunday's G3 Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies Sprint S. en route to next month's G3 Albany S. at Royal Ascot. Positioned in a close second after the initial strides, the 2-1 joint-favourite loomed large passing the quarter-mile marker and came under a late drive to assert superiority...

Aidan O'Brien trainee Alfred Munnings (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}--Best In The World {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) was all the rage for Friday's seven-furlong Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden at Leopardstown and justified market support, and then some, with a dominant debut performance, earning a TDN Rising Star rosette by 4 1/2 lengths on his birthday. The stable had won the contest in recent years with G1 Dewhurst S.-winning sire War Command (War Front) and G2 Vintage S.-winning sire War Decree (War Front) and also prepared Gleneagles (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) to finish...

ROSEGREEN, Ireland--He may have drawn a blank in the opening Classics of the season at Newmarket but Aidan O'Brien is taking dead aim at ParisLongchamp on Sunday and nominated Toy (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) to be on course for the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches while The Acropolis (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) will be the sole Ballydoyle representative in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains on the same afternoon. Toy, a sister to seven black-type horses, including 2,000 Guineas winner Gleneagles (Ire), got off the mark at the third attempt over seven...

For Aidan O'Brien it had been a week of mostly ups, with one major down. On Friday morning, the winter favourite for the Derby, Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), was found to be lame behind after exercise, having been shortened in the betting for Epsom following his third-placed finish in the 2000 Guineas. By Sunday he had been ruled out of the Derby completely, just as another potential star emerged from the Ballydoyle battalions in the hugely impressive Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). A maiden until the end of March on...

Barely moments after the news broke that Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) will miss the G1 Cazoo Derby, a stunning G3 Derby Trial win by Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}--Bonanza Creek {Ire}, by Anabaa) caused the Ballydoyle seismometer to significantly downgrade its disaster measurement. Throughout what can only be termed as "Galileo week", the stable's Classic trial winners have come in a relentless flow and the injury to the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy which would normally have registered as a five on the Richter scale was only a one or two...

Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), the short-priced favourite for the Cazoo Derby, is not certain to line up at Epsom after meeting with a setback, Aidan O'Brien has revealed. Third in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket last Saturday, Luxembourg had been a general 2-1 chance for Derby glory before O'Brien revealed the news to the Racing Post on Friday. He said, "Luxembourg was a little bit off after his canter this morning. He was a little lame on his off-hind." O'Brien added, "We are not sure of the reason why at...

Chester's May meeting, day two, status quo. Fresh off a day for the ages, Galileo extended his record tally of stakes winners to 350 when Aidan O'Brien trainee Star of India (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}--Shermeen {Ire}, by Desert Style {Ire}) displayed all the battling traits of his sire by finding plenty in the latter stages of Thursday's Listed Homeserve Dee S. to claim a first black-type rosette in ultimately impressive style. Star of India became a 'TDN Rising Star' with a taking score over seven furlongs in his debut at Leopardstown...

Westerberg and Coolmore's Changingoftheguard (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) may have face markings in the form of a question mark, but there was no doubting his class in Wednesday's G3 Boodles Chester Vase as the 10-3 chance bounded to an impressive 6 1/2-length triumph and extended sire Galileo's world-record tally of stakes winners to 349 in the day's extended 12-furlong feature. He had previously graduated by six lengths in an April Fools' Day maiden at Dundalk in his fourth start on seasonal return. Ryan Moore, who had made all aboard Ballydoyle's Thoughts...

Aptly-named Aidan O'Brien trainee Thoughts of June (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) finished behind Above The Curve (American Pharoah) tackling one mile at Leopardstown in her juvenile season closer last October and again when that reopposing rival attained TDN Rising Star status over the same course and distance last month. Sent postward at odds of 7-1 for Wednesday's Listed Weatherbys Bloodstock Pro Cheshire Oaks at Chester, she gained some measure of revenge to shed maiden status in game fashion. Thoughts of June was quickly into stride and led passing the judge first...

   One of Ballydoyle's most idle performers, the talented Wordsworth (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) gets to go over two miles for the first time on Wednesday as he warms up for the Royal meeting in Ascot's G3 Longines Sagaro S. While the G1 Grand Prix de Paris runner-up and G1 Irish Derby third hardly quickens the pulse with his dour galloping style, the full-brother to Kew Gardens (Ire) could be a G1 Gold Cup horse through-and-through and we will know more after his encounter with the 2020 G1 Prix du Cadran...