Aidan O'Brien | Horse Racing Free Tips

O’Brien’s Hong Kong Challenge Headed By Stone Age And Broome

Aidan O'Brien is preparing a twin assault on the G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase, a race he has won three times in the past, and Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) are set to represent the Ballydoyle maestro in Sunday's race.

Globetrotting sensation Highland Reel (Ire) won the Hong Kong Vase in 2015 and 2017 before Mogul (GB) bolstered O'Brien's record in the race when landing the Group 1 contest in 2020.

Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}), who tasted high level success on the international circuit in 2020 by taking out the Breeders' Cup Mile, will be O'Brien's sole representative in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup.

Stone Age was last seen running a fine second in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, a race in which stablemate Broome could only manage a sixth-placed finish, but O'Brien has provided an upbeat bulletin on both horses ahead of Sunday's contest.

He said, “We were delighted with Stone Age at the Breeders' Cup, he ran a very good race and had progressed from his previous run at Ascot. We've been happy with everything we've seen from him since then.

“It had been on my mind to go to Hong Kong since the Breeders' Cup, we thought the track, trip and ground should all suit him fine, we're all looking forward to it.”

Asked if Stone Age could stay in training next year, O'Brien added, “We think and hope he will. Obviously we think he's progressing and he definitely could progress again from three to four.”

Broome will be having his first taste of racing at Sha Tin on Sunday but O'Brien says he thinks the battle-hardened 6-year-old is up to the challenge.

He said, “We were very happy with his run in America, he was a bit slow away, got back a little bit and finished off very well. We had it in our heads that we might go to the Japan Cup, it just came maybe a week or two too early and that's why we waited.

“We were delighted to have the opportunity to come to Hong Kong with him. He's in good form and is a very good natured, very sound horse.”

O'Brien will bid to land the Hong Kong Cup for the first time with Order Of Australia, who he says is capable of being effective over the 10-furlong trip.

“He's been running all the time over a mile, but we always thought stepping up over a-mile-and-a-quarter would improve him more. He's obviously by Australia and we're very happy with him, we'll see what happens on Sunday.

“He has won over seven furlongs twice as well, so we kept him at a mile after the Breeders' Cup win, but we'd think there's a pretty good chance that [10 furlongs] will be fine.”

He added, “Obviously you need horses that don't mind travel, have experience and are still in good shape. It's a fantastic meeting, we speak to a lot of people who will tell you it's a great day. We always like to be involved and are delighted to be invited, especially for very competitive, high-class racing.”

The post O’Brien’s Hong Kong Challenge Headed By Stone Age And Broome appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Bolshoi Ballet To Miss Hong Kong Vase

Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) will not make the trip to Hong Kong for Sunday week's G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase (2400m), South China Morning Post reported Friday.

Ninth to Japan's Loves Only Your (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in last year's G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup (2000m), the last of an eight-race campaign that saw him compete on three continents, the bay was given a chance to make a return trip to Hong Kong in the Listed Churchill S. at Lingfield Nov. 12, but he failed to shine, finishing fourth and beaten better than six lengths.

Trainer Aidan O'Brien will still be double-handed in the Vase with GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf runners-up Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) and Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), while Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}) is to take on two-time Hong Kong Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile.

The post Bolshoi Ballet To Miss Hong Kong Vase appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Coolmore’s John Magnier The 2022 Recipient Of The Sir Peter O’Sullevan Award

Coolmore's John Magnier was the recipient of the 2022 Peter O'Sullevan Award and was celebrated at the 25th edition of the Peter O'Sullevan Annual Award Lunch in London on Thursday. The 74-year-old received his award from JP McManus at Coolmore, as he was not present at the lunch.

“I don't deserve it, but I'm happy to get it,” Magnier told ITV Racing anchor Ed Chamberlin in an interview, which was played during the ceremony. “I'm blown away by it, really.”

Magnier spoke in favour of racing's various factions coming together to work for the good of the whole sport.

“Our people running the sport really have to make some tough decisions–and when they make tough decisions, the rest of us are going to have to row in behind them. There are too many sectional interests pulling in different directions.”

Internationally renowned for his bloodstock acumen, the owner-breeder also reminisced about various bloodstock adventures, from Camelot (GB)'s Triple Crown bid with a near-miss in the G1 St Leger, to losing out to Juddmonte on the colt that would subsequently become the undefeated, wunderkind Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}).

“That was tough to take, all right,” said Magnier of the Doncaster reverse, adding of the Triple Crown, “It's something we would love to do one day. We won't give up.

“Frankel was a foal share with Juddmonte. Every second year we got the first pick. That year Juddmonte had the first pick and they picked Frankel. That was another one that got away.”

Added Magnier, whose Vincent O'Brien-trained Robert Sangster-owned El Gran Senor lost the G1 Derby in 1984 to Secreto, who was trained by the latter's son David, “He [El Gran Senor] was sold for $80 million if he had won the Derby. That's racing. In actual fact, I had a bet on Secreto, and Ladbrokes shut my account after. Mike Dillon gave me the cheque and I still have it framed in my office. We were able to buy a drink that night, anyway.”

Besides affirming Coolmore's ambition to secure the Triple Crown, Magnier emphasised the organisation's continued commitment to the Blue Riband. Coolmore and its affiliates have won nine Derbys since 2001, eight under the watchful eye of Ballydoyle's resident trainer Aidan O'Brien.

“A horse has to have everything to win at Epsom,” he said. “He has to have speed. He has to have stamina. He has to have soundness. He has to have courage. He has to go through the razzamatazz of the day. It's the complete test of the horse.

“There's an interesting story [on hiring Aidan]. He came here to the office, and I was going to have a chat with him to see if we could work something out. He said to me he had been here before. I said to him, 'What were you doing here before?' He said he had tried to get a job here and had met Christy Grassick. I asked him what happened, and he said he hadn't given him the job. I said, 'Clever of him. Christy could have lost his job!'”

He added of Vincent O'Brien, who preceded O'Brien at Rosegreen, “He understood all aspects of the business. He understood the American bloodlines, he understood the finance and he understood if you didn't have the owner, you weren't going to get the horse. He was a man apart, really. You couldn't help but learn from him. He was a genius.

Magnier also paid tribute to his late mother, Evie Stockwell, The Queen, as well as legendary jockey Lester Piggott, who all died this year.

“She loved the horses and spent two or three hours reading the Racing Post,” reflected Magnier on his mother, who enjoyed Breeders' Cup success as an owner-breeder with Hit It A Bomb (War Front). “It was a big part of her life.

“She [The Queen] was such a positive for racing. It will be very tough to manage without her.”

Of Piggott, Magnier said, “You could hear the crack of Lester's whip. He would probably get jailed today if he did that, but he was an artist at work. He had an aura about him. If he came into a room, you kind of knew he was there. He would come to Ballydoyle, especially in the spring, have a few glasses of champagne and smoke a cigar. He was very interesting.”

The post Coolmore’s John Magnier The 2022 Recipient Of The Sir Peter O’Sullevan Award appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Classic And Breeders’ Cup Heroine Tuesday Retired

Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a winner of the G1 Cazoo Oaks and the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, has been retired from racing to become a broodmare.

Raced by Westerberg, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, the Coolmore-bred bay started 10 times, her final eight all in Group 1 company. Off the mark at second asking in her 3-year-old bow at Naas in March, she ran third in the G1 1000 Guineas in May, before going one better in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas later that month. Stepped up in trip at Epsom, Tuesday prevailed by a nose on June 3. Also, second in the G1 Yorkshire Oaks two starts later in August, she attended the Breeders' Cup on the back of a sixth-place run in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe to triumph by a length on Nov. 5. Her record stands at 10-3-3-1, $1,828,827.

“Obviously, we were delighted with what Tuesday achieved,” said trainer Aidan O'Brien. “She had a great run in the Guineas, then won the Oaks and to finish off winning at the Breeders' Cup was incredible really.”

Out of G1 Coronation S. and G1 Matron S. heroine Lillie Langtry (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), Tuesday is a full-sister to seven-time Group 1 winner Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), fellow Classic winner and Group 1 winner Empress Josephine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and G3 Derrinstown Stud 1000 Guineas Trial heroine Kissed By Angels (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). This is the extended family of G1 Prix de l'Opera scorer and G1 Prix Saint-Alary second Place Du Carrousel (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

The post Classic And Breeders’ Cup Heroine Tuesday Retired appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post