We've all seen that video; it was in the month of March when Aidan O'Brien opened the gates at Ballydoyle to the Irish press and, tasked with naming his best 2-year-old by Brendan O'Rourke, the champion trainer did not hold back in his praise for Little Big Bear (Ire).
After nominating Little Big Bear as being top of the class, O'Brien also advised O'Rourke, a renowned Irish racing commentator, to double his stake from a fiver to a tenner on the colt winning his maiden on debut at the Curragh the following weekend.
Although Little Big Bear found one too good on that occasion, all has since been forgiven in the O'Rourke household, with the colt winning each of his next four starts, including a seven-length tonking of his G1 Phoenix S. rivals at the Curragh last month.
Little Big Bear may well be the poster boy for the Ballydoyle-trained juveniles this season, but Blackbeard (Ire), Aesop's Fables (Ire) and Meditate (Ire) have all confirmed themselves as top-notch prospects for one of the most powerful stables in the world.
And what do they all have in common apart from the fact that they are all trained by the master of Ballydoyle? That they are also by the sire of the moment, No Nay Never.
Coolmore's Mark Byrne said, “I had to laugh, that video resurfaced on Twitter again. 'What's his name, Chris [Armstrong, O'Brien's racing secretary at Ballydoyle]?' 'Little Big Bear, Aidan.'
“I don't think anyone could have imagined what would have happened after that. It's been an incredible year for No Nay Never. He has the ante-post favourite for the 1000 and 2000 Guineas already.”
An incredible year, indeed. Little Big Bear is likely to miss the G1 National S. at the Curragh on Irish Champions Weekend, but the hope is that he will run again this season, while fellow Group 1 winner Blackbeard, successful in the Prix Morny at Deauville when last seen, will continue to fly the flag for the stable and the stallion.
Byrne said, “Hopefully we'll see Little Big Bear back by the end of the year, Aesop's Fables could be anything, Blackbeard won the Prix Morny just like his father and his great grandfather [Johannesburg] and then you have Meditate as well. And they are just the Ballydoyle-trained No Nay Nevers I am talking about.
“It is an incredible feat for No Nay Never. He got off to a great start with Ten Sovereigns (Ire) and Alcohol Free (Ire), who is still running at the top level, but it's been a pleasure to see the standard of the mare that he has covered on the rise season after season. It's incredible to think that there could be even better to come.”
He added, “No Nay Never has sired the winner of 12 2-year-old stakes races in Europe already this season. That's remarkable. He's also sired [the winners of] both of the Group 1 2-year-old races in Europe this season as well. It's hard to knock him from any angle, really.
“Everyone is looking ahead towards the last Group 1 races of the Flat season for 2-year-olds and then all roads lead to the Guineas. It's conceivable that he could have two or three of ante-post favourites for the 2000 Guineas and possibly likewise for the 1000 Guineas by the end of the season.”
If there is one question mark hovering over No Nay Never, it may be whether or not his brilliant batch of 2-year-olds will stay the Guineas trip next term. However, Byrne thinks Little Big Bear and Aesop's Fables have emphatically enhanced their claims for Classic glory with their respective performances this season.
He said, “When Little Big Bear won the Phoenix S., there were three of them in a line a furlong and a half from home, and he went on to win by seven lengths. How could you say that he wouldn't get the mile on that performance?
“Aesop's Fables returned from 119 days off the track to win the G2 Futurity S. at the Curragh and he only really got going inside the last couple of furlongs that day. I'd have no doubt that they'd get at least a mile and there's still some lovely types out of Galileo (Ire) mares that we have here [at Coolmore] that will definitely get the mile and beyond in time. I have no fear about that whatsoever. As well as that, Meditate was doing her best work late on to win the Debutante quite comfortably, so it's a hugely exciting time.”
It's not just No Nay Never that everyone in Coolmore is thankful for. On that Scat Daddy line, Justify has emerged as a force to be reckoned with and Byrne thinks that the US Triple Crown winner can develop into a top-class stallion in his own right.
He said, “He has got off to a mind-bogglingly good start at stud. It might sound crazy, but you could compare him to Gun Runner in America, even at this very early stage. He actually has four stakes winners in America already, which is more than Gun Runner had at the same stage of his stud career, and interestingly, of those four stakes winners, two have been on turf and the other two on dirt, so he has versatility as well.
“To think that Justify has achieved all that he has already and he didn't even hit the track at two himself, he could be one of the most exciting young sires in America. That whole Scat Daddy sire line is really taking off–you've got Mendelssohn, who has had a 'TDN Rising Star' already, and it goes right down to Sioux Nation, who has two group winners and 28 individual winners already.
“We've also got Caravaggio in America, but he also has some very good crops in Europe, including Tenebrism, a Group 1 winner at two and three. There is also Maljoom (Ire) to look forward to and few would bet against him finishing the season as the best 3-year-old miler in Europe. I know that is a big statement to make but he looked unlucky in the G1 St James's Palace S. at Royal Ascot and the form of that race is looking stronger and stronger.”
And that's just the start of the Scat Daddy pipeline that Coolmore has been mining with great success in recent seasons. Those taps are in full flow now, with progeny of Ten Sovereigns going down well at the August Sale at Arqana and the Premier Yearling Sale at Doncaster, which bodes well for the future.
“It's very early days at the yearling sales but the progeny of Ten Sovereigns have been extremely well-received. When you go to Book 1 and Book 2 at Tattersalls and the Orby Sale at Goffs, that's when you'll really see a different type of yearling coming along. The demand for these horses is just going up and up.
“Then we also have Arizona, who has his first foals on the ground, and in a couple of years' time, hopefully we will have Little Big Bears and Blackbeards as well. It's a line that keeps getting stronger and stronger.”
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