Aidan O'Brien

ARCADIA, USA -- In case you're wondering, Aidan O'Brien had scrambled eggs for breakfast. That was just after he had watched his squad of ten take a stronger turn around Santa Anita's dirt track and before he had a chance to consider a second course at the lavish buffet by politely stepping outside to answer questions from a few annoying hacks, this one included. Ryan Moore has been aboard Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint contender Cherry Blossom (Ire) (No Nay Never) these last two mornings. "Is that a...

Colin Keane retains the title of Irish Champion Jockey, his fourth in succession and fifth overall, Horse Racing Ireland announced on Thursday. Joining Keane on the podium will be Aidan O'Brien and Sue Magnier, who also retain their titles of trainer and owner, respectively, while Jamie Powell is favoured to earn the Irish Champion Apprentice title. Keane earned his championship by riding to an unassailable lead in late August. He celebrated group wins aboard Zarinsk (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) on three occasions. In addition, he also rode Group 3 winners for...

ARCADIA, USA--Against the most stunning backdrop in world racing, just as the pre-dawn sky started to pinken with promise, a metaphorical dark cloud was cast across Santa Anita racetrack. Practical Move (Practical Joke), a leading contender for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack on his way back in from exercise in front of onlookers on the apron. The screens arrived eventually, but not soon enough to remind those present of the occasionally desperate nature of the sport we love, and how such a...

ARCADIA, CA -- After firing a five-furlong warning shot at Santa Anita Monday morning, Zedan Racing's 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) was installed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite while drawing post 12 at the Rood & Riddle Post-Position Draw for Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The Bob Baffert-trained GI Pacific Classic hero and $2.3-million OBS April breezer will face 12 rivals in the $6-million centerpiece, including fellow sophomore and the rail-drawn GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S. hero Arcangelo (Arrogate), GI Whitney S. winner White Abarrio (Race...

If it goes ahead, it's going to be tough at Doncaster on Saturday with the G1 Kameko Futurity Trophy being staged on ground that failed to survive an inspection for the Friday card. If there was a horse physically designed for such conditions, it is surely Godolphin's TDN Rising Star Ancient Wisdom (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) who went through Newmarket's testing surface with relish when winning the G3 Autumn S. over this mile trip a fortnight earlier. Supplemented for this prize given how strongly he emerged from that experience, he bids...

The 2023 Longines Hong Kong International Races meeting to be held at Sha Tin Racecourse Sunday, Dec. 10, has attracted some 189 entries--including a whopping 68 from Japan--from a total of 12 racing jurisdictions. The four Group 1 races, collectively deemed the 'World Turf Championships, will offer record prizemoney of HK$118 million (£12.4 million/€14.3 million/A$23.8 million/US$15.1 million). The entries include no fewer than 55 Group 1 winners from around the globe, including Sunday Racing's exciting Japanese Triple Tiara winner Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}), who was given the option of...

The action revolved around Coolmore's 17-strong draft on day one of the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-In-Training Sale where the Aidan O'Brien-trained Carracci (Quality Road) was sold to continue his career in Saudi Arabia for 320,000gns Carracci boasted one of the most attractive profiles on offer at Tattersalls on Monday and the market agreed. Placed in a Group 3 earlier this season, Carracci was last seen finishing a respectable fourth in a listed contest at Dundalk in September.  He boasts a rating of 101 and was described by Aidan 'Mouse' O'Ryan as...

The St Leger winner Continuous (Jpn), a son of the late Shadai stallion Heart's Cry (Jpn), is set to return to the land of his birth to take on Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) in the Japan Cup on November 26. Fifth in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe after his Classic success, the colt missed Saturday's Champion S. with a raised temperature. "But he's back fine, he's back cantering again, so the plan with him is to go to the Japan Cup," said trainer Aidan O'Brien on Racing TV. ...

Aidan O'Brien had experienced a famine of sorts since annexing 2010's G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud with Recital (Fr) (Montjeu {Ire}), but he was back in the familiar surroundings of Saint-Cloud's winner's circle after Ballydoyle second string Los Angeles (Ire) (Camelot {GB}--Frequential {GB}, by Dansili {GB}) prevailed in a blanket finish to Sunday's latest renewal of the 10-furlong feature. The 67-10 chance found the necessary gears late on to register an ultimately impressive debut success tackling nine furlongs at Tipperary at the beginning of last month and was well away to...

Saint-Cloud stage the key fayre on Sunday, with the G1 Criterium International and G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud offering the juvenile crop a late opportunity to flaunt Classic pretensions. In the 10-furlong Criterium de Saint-Cloud, Ballydoyle look for their first winner since 2010 with the impressive Curragh maiden winner Illinois (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) while the Joseph O'Brien-trained compatriot Islandsinthestream (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) will provide clues as to the merit of his G1 Vincent O'Brien National S. conqueror Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). Godolphin's unbeaten Andre Fabre-trained TDN Rising Star Casapueblo...

There had already been two TDN Rising Stars during Saturday's action at Leopardstown by the time the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden came along, but in that mile contest Ballydoyle's Ocean Of Dreams (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}--All For Glory, by Giant's Causeway) categorically made it a third as he annihilated the opposition to suggest he could be one of the stable's big Derby players next summer. Settled in mid-division early by Seamie Heffernan, the Coolmore homebred from the heralded dynasty of Galileo (Ire) and Sea The Stars (Ire) made gradual...

Aidan O'Brien representative Grosvenor Square (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}--Wadyhatta {GB}, by Cape Cross {Ire}), who possesses a similar profile to G3 Killavullan S. victor Atlantic Coast (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), followed up a Galway debut victory with a third in last month's G2 Beresford S. and justified odds-on favouritism with a daylight win in Saturday's G3 Eyrefield S. at Leopardstown. The crowd's 10-11 pick tanked forward from the stalls and settled into a smooth rhythm on the front end through halfway. Comfortably clear straightening for home, he held an unassailable lead approaching...