Aidan O'Brien | Horse Racing Free Tips

Max of Eight Contest King George as Enable Eyes Hat Trick

Prince Khalid Abdullah’s champion mare Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) is bidding to become the first horse to take three editions of the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S., as she is one of eight to stand their ground at the latest entry stage. She sustained only her second career loss with a 1 3/4 second when going for a three-peat in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp in October and was the bridesmaid once again kicking off her 6-year-old campaign in Sandown’s G1 Coral-Eclipse S. behind Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) on July 5. The Ascot cornerstone also drew the Juddmonte colourbearer’s stablemate, fellow John Gosden trainee and MGSW Fanny Logan (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) who won the G2 Hardwicke S. at Royal Ascot in June.

Abdullah’s racing manager, Teddy Grimthorpe, said, “We’re very happy with Enable. Everything has been straightforward since the Eclipse and we think she’s come on for that run. We’re looking forward to Saturday.”

“These big races are not supposed to be easy to win,” added Grimthorpe. “It’s not going to be a very big field, obviously, but there are only so many horses at that level. It’s a shame there’s no 3-year-old in the race, but we’re just concentrating on our ourselves and Enable seems in good shape.”

The dual G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner’s stiffest competition however hails from across the Irish Sea, as Aidan O’Brien saddles six for the Coolmore partners in the 1 1/2-mile feature. Star fillies Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and MG1SW Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), second to Enable in the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf back in 2018, are both slated to take part. The former, a Group 1 winner in Australia, and first in the June 13 G2 Lanwades Stud S., was a last out fourth in the Coral-Eclipse. Magical warmed up for this with an easy 4 1/2-length win in the G1 Pretty Polly S. at The Curragh on June 28.

Highly regarded 2019 G1 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris and G1 Juddmonte International S. scorer Japan (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), third to Ghaiyyath and Enable in the Coral-Eclipse, returns for another crack at the top level after a fourth in the G1 Prince Of Wales’s S. at Royal Ascot on June 17. One of several other Classic winners from Rosegreen tapped for the King George is 2019 G1 Investec Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), fifth in the Hardwicke, while last year’s G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby hero Sovereign (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) cuts back in trip after running third in the G3 Comer Group International Vintage Crop S. in his 4-year-old bow at The Curragh on June 27. Group 3 winner Sir Dragonet (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) completes the sextet.

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Enable To Seek Historic Treble In Saturday’s King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes

Enable will face a select field of seven rivals in Saturday's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes.

The world-class mare will seek to secure her third victory in the race – a feat that has never been achieved before by any horse.

Having won races all over the world, this race falls very much as part of Enable's plan to secure a historic third win in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Her reappearance run this season came earlier in the month in the Coral-Eclipse where she went down battling to a match-fit Ghayyaith. Since that race connections have reported that she is back where they want her, with assistant trainer Thady Gosden saying “She's very well at the moment, working nicely and has come on a lot for her run at Sandown.”

“At the moment things are going very smoothly. Her attitude is very good at home and physically she's improved a lot.”

Standing in her way will be six rivals from Aidan O'Brien's stable and one additional runner from her own stable.

Of the O'Brien sextet, the obvious challenges come from another star-mare in Magical and colt, Japan. Magical was last seen winning the Pretty Polly Stakes over in Ireland, and is no stranger to a match up with Enable – this would be their sixth meeting with Enable leading 6-0.

Japan has also encountered Enable a couple of times, finishing close to her in both the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and also the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.

Of the other O'Brien horses, Magic Wand has engaged in plenty of high-class battles around the world so would be an ideal candidate. Anthony Van Dyke was the winner of a thrilling 2019 Investec Derby so has the pedigree to thrive in this race.

Enable's only runner outside of the O'Brien stable comes from her own stable in Fanny Logan. The progressive four-year-old was last seen winning at Ascot when securing a competitive Hardwicke Stakes at the Royal meeting.

Full Line-up:
Anthony Van Dyke, Enable, Fanny Logan, Japan, Magical, Magic Wand, Sir Dragonet, Sovereign

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Irish Oaks Headlines Saturday Action

Aidan O’Brien will be looking to bring down more barricades on Saturday as he chases the record of Sir Michael Stoute in The Curragh’s G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks. With five wins in the mile-and-a-half Classic, he sits one shy of the tally wracked up over the decades by the Newmarket-based legend and it will be no surprise were he to join him in 2020. Four fillies contest the latest renewal from Rosegreen, with Evie Stockwell’s G1 Epsom Oaks and G2 Ribblesdale S. runner-up Ennistymon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) the current standard-bearer on that form. Normally, being beaten nine lengths in the Epsom monument would be no commendation coming into this equivalent, but to be that distance from her exalted stablemate Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is probably creditable. “We’ve been very happy with Ennistymon since her last run in Epsom. She ran a great race, so we’re looking forward to this,” O’Brien said.

Ennistymon’s rider Wayne Lordan was on Snow (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) when she beat her elders in the G3 Munster Oaks at Cork July 5, which was her first try at this trip. Previously runner-up in the June 21 G3 Blue Wind S. over 10 furlongs June 21, the full-sister to Kew Gardens (Ire) is charting the kind of progress that makes one from her stable with her pedigree impossible to discount in this company. That also applies to Laburnum (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who came off second-best in a tussle with the Ger Lyons-trained Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) in the Listed Naas Oaks Trial over a mile and a quarter last time July 4.

“We were delighted with Laburnum the last day, she was very inexperienced going into it–a baby, really,” O’Brien said of the full-sister to Roderic O’Connor (Ire). “When she won her maiden she didn’t know much, so we felt that she had to run again to learn. She seems to be in good form and is stepping up to a mile and a half. It will be very interesting to see what happens with her, but there is every chance she is going to move up plenty. She is a very straightforward filly.”

Earlier on the Curragh card, the O’Brien-Lordan combination is in evidence in the G2 Paddy Power Minstrel S. on the exciting Lancaster House (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who beat the high-class Speak In Colours (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}) with authority in the G3 Gladness S. over this seven-furlong trip June 13. He has to contend with last year’s winner Romanised (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), who stages his return to action for Robert Ng and Ken Condon. Already successful in the 2018 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas, he proved himself a genuine top-class performer on his latest two outings when winning the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois and finishing runner-up in the G1 Prix du Moulin.

Aidan O’Brien’s record in the G2 GAIN Railway S. is remarkable, with his tally of 13 successes just one short of the late great Vincent O’Brien. Wayne Lordan is on the June 26 course-and-distance maiden winner Merchants Quay (Fr) (No Nay Never), leaving Michael Hussey to partner the July 3 Navan maiden scorer Forest of Dreams (Ire) (No Nay Never). Jessie Harrington saddles Zhang Yuesheng’s June 8 Naas maiden winner Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), while Ger Lyons relies on To Glory (GB) (Toronado {Ire}) who was off the mark over another 150 yards on debut at Limerick June 29. The fixture’s other pattern race is the G2 Comer Group International Curragh Cup, in which Lordan is on Ballydoyle’s unexposed June 18 Fairyhouse maiden-winning 3-year-old Memorabilis (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) as he takes on Lloyd Williams’ veteran Twilight Payment (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) who scored over course and distance last time in the June 27 G3 Vintage Crop S.

Earlier in the afternoon, Newbury host the G3 bet365 Hackwood S. for the sprinters, with Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum’s TDN Rising Star Repartee (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) looking to step up on his winning return in Windsor’s Listed Carnarvon S. over this six-furlong trip June Jun 28. Among the unexposed 3-year-old’s opponents is last year’s G2 City of York S. winner Shine So Bright (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who was third when attempting to force the issue in the seven-furlong Listed Surrey S. at Epsom July 4. “As long as the ground is on the quick side, I would hope he’ll run very well. I think they’re calling the ground good at the moment and as long as it stays that way, I’m sure he’ll be fine,” trainer Andrew Balding said. “He’s a very useful horse on his day and I was happy with his last run at Epsom.”

Also on the card is the Listed bet365 Rose Bowl S. over six furlongs, where Manton Park Racing’s Method (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) bids to uphold the form of his Doncaster debut June 26. Having beaten the subsequent G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. runner-up Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}) there by 4 1/4 lengths, there is an understandable air of excitement surrounding the latest Martyn Meade project. “He was quite impressive at Doncaster, but this is a totally different ball game,” he said with a dash of humility. “He’s come out the race really well and I’m expecting him to progress and make a good showing of himself. It’s a natural stepping-stone. It’s just the right sort of race for him. I think he learnt a lot the other day.”

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Freshman Sire The Gurkha Off the Mark at Limerick

Coolmore’s G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains and G1 Sussex S. hero The Gurkha (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who operated at an initial fee of €25,000, became the latest European freshman sire off the mark when Aidan O’Brien trainee Finest (Ire) graduated in Friday’s Well Done To All Frontline Staff From Limerick Racecourse Fillies Maiden at Limerick.

1st-Limerick, €11,000, Mdn, 7-17, 2yo, f, 6f 150yT, 1:25.45, gd.
FINEST (IRE) (f, 2, The Gurkha {Ire}–Pearl Grey {GB} {SW & GSP-Eng}, by Gone West) was caught out by the intricacies of Bellewstown when fifth going one mile there last month and tanked to the front after the initial strides of this fourth start. Comfortable in front for the most part, the 15-2 chance was punched along passing the quarter-mile marker and came under a drive inside the final 100 yards to bravely hold the late charge of Amber Kite (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) by a nose, becoming the first winner for her freshman sire (by Galileo {Ire}). “She did that well from an outside draw and I got it a little bit easy in front,” admitted winning rider Wayne Lordan. “She tried and battled well and the line came in time.” Full-sister to a yearling colt, Finest is the sixth scorer produced by Listed Empress S. victress and G2 Cherry Hinton S. runner-up Pearl Grey (GB) (Gone West). Her dam is a herself kin to G3 Prix de Ris-Orangis victor Time Prisoner (Elusive Quality) and to the dam of G3 Superior Mile winner Balty Boys (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}). Sales history: €250,000 Ylg ’19 ARAUG. Lifetime Record: 4-1-0-1, $10,595.
O-Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor; B-Lynch Bages Ltd (IRE); T-Aidan O’Brien.

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