Galileo (Ire)
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......
EPSOM, UK--Just when we thought there was nothing new to say in praise of Aidan O'Brien, up he jumps to break a 159-year-old record for the number of British Classic winners by a trainer. It took the previous record-holder John Scott 36 years to amass his 40, and O'Brien has reached his tally of 41 in just 23. After an opening brace in 1998, when King Of Kings (Ire) won the 2000 Guineas and Shahtoush (Ire) gave the trainer the first of his 10 Oaks victories, the Ballydoyle maestro had...
The bit that most concerns us, naturally, is that the race is not to the swift--albeit ours is a business that will also disclose, fairly reliably, that nor is the battle to the strong; bread to the wise; riches to men of understanding; or favor to those of skill. "Time and chance happen to them all." So, yes, we all know that before anything else we require a little luck. But the whole point of Epsom, as the definitive measure of the Thoroughbred, is that while your horse must certainly...
Choosing her own third birthday to bring Aidan O'Brien a record 41st British Classic, Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}--Lillie Langtry {Ire}, by Danehill Dancer {Ire}) inched out TDN Rising Star Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) in a thriller for Friday's G1 Cazoo Oaks at Epsom. Third in the 1000 Guineas and runner-up in the Irish equivalent, the homebred who was a 13-2 shot to emulate her full-sister Minding (Ire) arrived from rear to grab the lead inside the final two furlongs and had her nose in front on the line...
Kick-starting a new weekly Q&A series in TDN Europe, former champion trainer John Oxx, whose spellbinding career will forever be remembered through his masterful handling of Sea The Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), Sinndar (Ire) (Grand Lodge) and Ridgewood Pearl (GB) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), sat down with Brian Sheerin to talk all things racing and breeding. The dual Derby-winning trainer speaks about Epsom, how delighted he is that Sea The Stars has a top-notch miler in Baaeed and his life in retirement. Brian Sheerin: There are few weeks in...
The late supersire Galileo (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), a winner of the 2001 G1 Derby, has been inducted into the QIPCO British Champion Series Hall of Fame (video) via a public vote. He beat out his fellow Derby-winning half-brother Sea The Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) and the 1981 Derby victor Shergar (GB) (Great Nephew {GB}). The public was invited to vote on the three Derby winners in recognition of the special year of The Queen's Platinum Jubilee. The Platinum Jubilee Central Weekend celebrations include the G1 Cazoo Derby on June...
On the day of this year's French Guineas, Jean Lesbordes perused the runners in the paddock for the Prix de la Seine, made his way to the stands to watch the race, and then back to the winner's enclosure for another look at the victrix Hidden Dimples (Ire), a daughter of Frankel (GB). Thirty years earlier, Lesbordes had a much stronger connection to the winner of the same race. He was her trainer and the filly's name was Urban Sea. The fact that her name appears in the third generation...
The mental strain and inner turmoil that COVID-19 has caused in Hong Kong over the past 26 months dictate that the talented Blake Shinn will return to Australia at the end of the current racing season. The 34-year-old, winner at home of the 2008 G1 Melbourne Cup and 2016 G1 Golden Slipper, among other feature races, decided to give Hong Kong a go a couple of years back, and while it has not always been smooth sailing, Shinn has done the hard yards. He improved from 15 wins in his...
Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Sunday's Observations features a daughter of Grade I winner Athena (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). 1.40 Curragh, Mdn, €20,000, 2yo, f, 6fT NEVER ENDING STORY (IRE) (Dubawi {Ire}) is another significant Ballydoyle newcomer on this important weekend, being the first foal out of the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational winner Athena (Ire)...
Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Wednesday's Observations features a daughter of Royal Ascot winner Acapulco (Scat Daddy). 2.40 Gowran, Mdn, €15,000, 3yo/up, f/m, 8fT SO BEAUTIFUL (IRE) (Galileo {Ire}), representing the Westerberg/Magnier/Tabor/Smith coalition, is big news as the second foal out of the G2 Queen Mary S. winner and G1 Nunthorpe S. runner-up Acapulco...
ROSEGREEN, Ireland--Ryan Moore will find it difficult to ride anything other than Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Cazoo Derby, according to Aidan O'Brien, who may be without the ace--Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB})--in his Epsom pack, but expects to run up to six colts as he bids for a record-extending ninth win in the race on June 4. Stone Age didn't just open the door to a tilt at the Derby in winning the G3 Derby Trial at Leopardstown on Sunday, he kicked it open and announced himself as...
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...