You'resothrilling (Storm Cat) was bred to be good, named to be good and was in fact pretty good in her racing days for Michael Tabor and Sue Magnier, winning at Group 2 and 3 level in just seven starts. But anything she achieved on the track has been surpassed, almost in the blink of an eye, in her still-fledgling broodmare career.
The sister to Giant's Causeway has been aided in her success by repeat visits to the champion sire Galileo (Ire), but to have produced two Guineas winners from her first two foals propels her straight into blue-hen territory. Gleneagles (Ire), born a year and three days after his Irish 1000 Guineas-winning sister Marvellous (Ire), laid waste to a bumper field of 18 runners for the G1 Qipco 2000 Guineas, his turbo-charged thrust two furlongs from home leaving some well-credentialed challengers toiling in his wake. Godolphin's French-trained raider Territories (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) ran home strongly to be best of the rest, but proved no match for the killer turn of foot exhibited by Ryan Moore's mount.
Much has been made of Moore's signing to Ballydoyle this spring, and though he doesn't show it he will undoubtedly have been delighted to record his first major victory for his new bosses in the Classic run not much more than a stone's throw from his front door. Though he won the G1 1000 Guineas for Aidan O'Brien back in 2012 aboard Homecoming Queen (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), this was the first 2000 Guineas success for Moore. For O'Brien, however, Gleneagles was merely extending a line of dominance in the race that started with King Of Kings in 1998 and continued though Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire) (2002), Footstepsinthesand (Ire) (2005), George Washington (Ire) (2006), Henrythenavigator (2008) and Camelot (Ire) (2012). Not since 1862 has any trainer been so successful in the opening Classic of the British turf season, when John Scott saddled his seventh 2000 Guineas winner, The Marquis, having landed his first victory 20 years earlier with Meteor.
The comparison extends to the fact that two of Scott's winners were ridden by his son, Bill. O'Brien's son Joseph missed out on his second victory in the race by being partnered with the stable's other challenger, Ol' Man River (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), who finished a disappointing last. As much a part of the team as his father, Joseph nevertheless played a significant role in helping Gleneagles to earn his Classic laurels.
“Joseph rides him every day and he was really happy with him coming here,” explained O'Brien. “Joseph and Ryan had discussed the race beforehand and Joseph said that [Gleneagles] doesn't do too much when he hits the front, but when Ryan came in today he just said that he had to commit him that early because he traveled so well and nothing could lead him. He's a great traveler and he has a lot of speed–five, six or seven furlongs would have been no problem with him as a 2-year-old.”
Anyone who has listened to post-Classic interviews with O'Brien will know it is now a customary part of his acceptance speech to deflect attention from himself and praise the team at home, but no matter how many times he says it, his appreciation for the back-room boys and girls at Ballydoyle and Coolmore never sounds trite.
On Saturday afternoon, he reiterated this stance, saying modestly: “I'm a very small part of a very big team of people and that's the reality. It's a privilege to be in the position we're in at Ballydoyle with these horses but there's a lot of people putting in a lot of hard work even before these horses are born.”
And that, of course, is the crux of the extraordinary success of an extraordinary empire. No bloodstock operation in the world could be better orchestrated– through the creation of home-grown sires and selection of first-class breeding stock–than Coolmore, whose stallions were responsible for a third of the runners in this year's 2000 Guineas. From a quiet corner of rural Ireland, its power is felt throughout the racing world.
Though Moore has ridden for Ballydoyle on many big occasions in the past, it's a break with tradition to have an Englishman charged with the Irish stable's main riding duties. He's earned his place by proving time and again that he's a jockey who can mix it with the very best in any jurisdiction internationally. Frustratingly for a quote-hungry press pack, Moore is a man of few words, but there's no doubting his sense of purpose in his new role.
“These races are important and we'll try to win as many as we can,” he said after accepting his prize for Gleneagles's victory. It will be no surprise if that statement is borne out as soon as Sunday afternoon, when he will be back in Michael Tabor's blue-and-orange silks aboard recent listed victrix Legatissimo (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) in the Qipco 1000 Guineas.
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