Royal Ascot Talking Points: Record-Breaking O’Brien And Paddington Steal The Show

Day one done and dusted and it's hard to imagine that there will be a more impressive Group 1 winner than Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) at Royal Ascot this week. 

The manner in which he swept aside the Guineas hero Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the St James's Palace S. was something to behold. So, too, has been the progression the colt has put in this season. 

Paddington reappeared to win the prestigious Madrid Handicap at Naas off just 97 and shares something in common with fellow Aidan O'Brien-trained Group 1 winners Homecoming Queen (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and Treasure Beach (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) in that he cut his teeth in handicaps before recording top-notch successes. 

It's fascinating to see how far Paddington has come in such a short space of time and it will be even more interesting to predict where he might end up this season. 

He has given a strong indication that he will be even better over further and his pedigree would back that up being by Siyouni and out of a Montjeu (Ire) mare. 

Connections must be thinking about stepping Paddington up to 10 furlongs in time, with races like the Coral-Eclipse and possibly even the Irish Champion S. the most obvious races for him if they lean that way.

His success on Tuesday carried added significance given O'Brien became the most successful trainer in Royal Ascot history after he crossed the winning line. 

O'Brien's tally at the royal meeting now stands at 83 winners. He is just 53 years old.  Like Paddington, there will be a lot more to come. 

River Tiber An Important Winner

The Coventry has a tendency to throw up the odd forgettable winner every now and again. In fact, no winner of the race has gone on to land a Classic since the 2012 scorer Dawn Approach (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), who remained unbeaten at two and landed the following year's 2,000 Guineas for Jim Bolger. 

Few would bet against River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) charting a similar path and he could be the horse to bridge that Classic gap for the Coventry and something like the Dewhurst would look to be an obvious target for the colt this term.

“Different class,” is how Ryan Moore described the winner, and that is as good a summary as any for a horse who took over from long-time leader Givemethebeatboys (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}) deep inside the last furlong before putting almost two lengths between that rival and then holding the late flourish of the runner-up [Army Ethos (GB) (Shalaa {Ire})].

It was a performance of some substance, and one that earned River Tiber his position at the head of the betting for next year's 2,000 Guineas, for which he can be backed at odds of 10-1. 

The win provided Aidan O'Brien with a record-extending 10th Coventry success, which makes the master of Ballydoyle the most successful trainer in the race's history, but an even bigger subplot to emerge from River Tiber winning was how Coolmore's investment in Wootton Bassett is beginning to pay off. 

The Coventry was a big race for the stallion given Amo Racing's Bucanero Fuerte (GB) also ran a huge race to fill the placings back in third on just his second career start.

O'Brien touched on how excited he is about the progeny of the stallion, and rightly so, judging by the early accomplishments of Wootton Bassett at Coolmore. 

Bradsell Pays Big Compliment To Bear

Speaking of the Coventry, last year's winner Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) ensured that the words forgettable will never apply to him when he clung on to land a dramatic edition of the G1 King's Stand S. 

Much of the chat about Friday's Commonwealth Cup has revolved around Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never), who had Bradsell confined to the rear-view mirror at Haydock last month. 

Between O'Brien's fantastic start to the royal meeting and Bradsell providing the form with a major boost, one should expect that Little Big Bear won't go off the colour of the 13-8 that is on offer right now. 

Worth Forgiving Sub-Par Efforts 

For a nation that supposedly doesn't have any good sprinters, Britain didn't do too badly by sending out the first 10 home in the King's Stand. 

Indeed, there were genuine excuses for the Australian runners Coolangatta (Aus) (Written Tycoon {Aus}) and Cannonball (Aus) (Capitalist {Aus}) given the rain that fell beforehand would not have played to their strengths. 

It should also be noted that Dramatised (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}), last year's Queen Mary winner and a well-backed 7-2 chance before the off, can be forgiven for failing to get involved after racing alone on the stand's side rail with Cannonball. 

Melbourne Cup Could Be Calling For Vauban

Willie Mullins has been talking about the Melbourne Cup for Vauban (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) even before the gelding won the Triumph Hurdle last year. 

Connections came desperately close to winning the race in 2015 with Max Dynamite (Fr) (Great Journey {Jpn}) and in Vauban, hugely impressive in landing the Copper Horse Handicap, they could well realise the dream. 

Three Cheers For Brilliant Broodmare Reem Three

How good is Reem Three (GB) (Mark Of Esteem {Ire})? A three-time winner and listed placed when in training with Luca Cumani, she now boasts three Royal Ascot winners as a broodmare after the success of the aptly-named Triple Time (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Queen Anne S. 

Reem Three had already supplied Wokingham winner Cape Byron and Britannia scorer Ostilio, not to mention Ajman Princess finishing second in the Ribblesdale. A tremendous record. 

A Mare In Foal An Unstoppable Force? Henderson Thinks So

Ascot Stakes winner Ahorsewithnoname (GB) (Cacique {Ire}) will soon be off to the paddocks after connections of the Nicky Henderson-trained mare revealed that she was in foal to Cracksman (GB). 

There are some who swear that mares running in foal improve their performance, but it's almost impossible to prove it makes that much of a difference if any at all. 

One thing's for certain, Ahorsewithnoname's career-best performance was a timely one, and Henderson was left convinced that getting the mare covered in the spring played an integral part in the Royal Ascot success. 

He explained, “It definitely changed her. She's just much sharper. She used to be much more relaxed at home but when she came back from [being covered in] Newmarket, it certainly woke her up a bit. It's been a tried and tested route but you can only do it once. You've got 90 days–so, as I say, you can only do it once. 

“We're pretty sure it had an effect. Now, with some, it might have the opposite effect. They might go all dreamy and sleepy and mummy. There's no doubt [it worked].”

Of course, Ahorsewithnoname is not the only mare to have recorded successes at the royal meeting whilst in foal.

Credit to Kevin Blake on Sky Sports Racing for the knowledge, but Indian Queen (GB) (Electric I {GB}) was also in foal when storming to her Gold Cup win in 1991. 

 

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Seven Days: Four Hundred

On December 3, 1995, the G1 Royal Bond Novice Hurdle was won by the Aidan O'Brien-trained Thats My Man (Ire). It is unconfirmed, but those may well have been the words uttered by John Magnier when he decided to appoint O'Brien to uphold the good reputation of his surname at Ballydoyle. This he has done with aplomb.

From that December day at Fairyhouse until Sunday at the Curragh, A P O'Brien has been the name printed alongside 400 Group or Grade 1 winners. From his roots in National Hunt, he quickly set about conquering the Flat world. In O'Brien's first year at Ballydoyle, Desert King (Ire) became his first Group 1 winner in the 1996 National Stakes in the colours of Michael Tabor, with Walter Swinburn up. The son of Danehill later became his second Classic winner, but only by 24 hours, when the trainer signalled the manner in which he intended to continue his Flat training career by saddling the winners of the Irish 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas in the same weekend. Classic Park (Ire) struck in the fillies' contest and, like so many top-class fillies trained from Ballydoyle, became influential in her stud career as the dam of Derby runner-up and sought-after National Hunt sire Walk In The Park (Ire).

Desert King went on to win the Irish Derby and later that year we would see just how well recommended by John Durkan was the brilliant Istabraq (Ire), when he posted the first of 23 wins for O'Brien and JP McManus.

O'Brien's first triumph in an Epsom Classic came in 1998, when Shahtoush (Ire) won the Oaks. Giant's Causeway was perhaps his first real superstar, with his imperious run through the high summer of 2000 foreshadowing the appearance of the horse with whom O'Brien's name will be forever entwined: Galileo (Ire).

He was of course the first of his trainer's eight Derby winners in 2001. By the end of this week it's not impossible that O'Brien will have brought his tally of Classic wins at Epsom to 20. He has six of the remaining 15 entries in the Oaks, led by Savethelastdance (Ire), a daughter of his old friend Galileo, and four of the 16 for the Derby, including the winter favourite Auguste Rodin (Ire), looking to bounce back from the disappointment of the 2,000 Guineas.

Over last weekend, it was Paddington (GB) and Luxembourg (Ire) who brought his tally of Group 1 wins to the 400 mark, with the former sparking an Irish Guineas double for Siyouni (Fr) which was completed by Tahiyra (Fr) for the Aga Khan and Dermot Weld on Sunday.

The Older Guard

Luxembourg's triumph over Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) and Piz Badile (Ire) (Ulysses {Ire}) in the Tattersalls Gold Cup brought to a close a treat of a week when it came to action from the older-horse brigade.

There was the rare, if not unique, spectacle of last year's Coronation Cup and Derby winner, Hukum (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), returning in the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. after neither had been seen in public since their respective Epsom wins. Hukum's turn of foot in the closing stages was a sight to behold as he reeled in Desert Crown as the post loomed to win by a half-length. His trainer Owen Burrows kept the ball rolling with another of his older inmates, and another grandson of Cape Cross (Ire), when the five-year-old Anmaat (Ire) became the first Group 1 winner for this sire Awtaad (Ire) in Monday's Prix d'Ispahan.

The aforementioned Luxembourg perhaps doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Like the previous weekend's Lockinge winner Modern Games (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) , he is a Group 1 winner at two, three, and four, which is no easy feat and is the mark of a proper horse.

Luxembourg's sire Camelot (GB) surely holds a place in Aidan O'Brien's heart for providing his son Joseph with a first Derby triumph as a jockey. As we head into the Derby weekend it is worth reflecting on the influence of Camelot's sire Montjeu (Ire), whose sons Motivator (GB), Authorized (Ire), and Pour Moi (Ire) also won the Derby in a seven-year-period, to be followed by Pour Moi's son Wings Of Eagles (Fr) in 2017.

The quirky but brilliant Montjeu was often derided when it came to his record as a sire of fillies, but he is currently performing well in the broodmare sire table, some 11 years after his death at the age of just 16. On Saturday, he featured as the damsire of Classic winner Paddington, while previous group winners around the world this year out of Montjeu mares include Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), Dubai Honour (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}) and Coltrane (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}). He has already featured as the broodmare sire of an Oaks winner, courtesy of Meon Valley Stud's 2019 victrix Anapurna (GB) (Frankel {GB}), and he could enhance that record further if Heartache Tonight (Fr) were to oblige on Friday for David Menuisier. The daughter of Recorder (GB) has been produced on the same pattern of 3×3 inbreeding to Sadler's Wells as Anapurna, and they respectively have the half-brothers Unfuwain and Nashwan in the bottom half of their pedigrees. 

It was also a big week for some of the star juveniles of 2022. Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) pulled up lame after the 2,000 Guineas but put that firmly behind him with a resolute win in the G2 Sandy Lane S. under Frankie Dettori. In the second of two cracking sprints at Haydock, Steve Parkin's homebred G2 Queen Mary S. winner Dramatised (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) returned to lift the G2 Temple S. She heads to the G1 King's Stand S., while Little Big Bear is now a warm favourite for the G1 Commonwealth Cup.

Whitsbury World

When it comes to golden geese, Whitsbury Manor Stud appears to have one of both the male and female variety. The stud record of last year's leading freshman sire Havana Grey (GB) goes from strength to strength, and on Thursday his son Elite Status (GB) emulated his dad by winning the Listed National S. for the Karl Burke stable, becoming the first stakes winner of Havana Grey's second crop. Among those from his debut crop of three-year-olds, Mammas Girl (GB), Great State (GB) and Shouldvebeenaring (GB) are all black-type winners this year, with the last two named, along with Elite Status, having been bred by Whitsbury Manor Stud.

The stud also features this year as the breeder of 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}), whose half-sister Get Ahead (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) gave Whitsbury Manor yet another Listed win on Friday in the Cecil Frail S. The four-year-old thus became the fourth stakes winner for the increasingly celebrated mare Suelita (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}).

Stand By To Party

When Con and Theresa Marnane's Different League (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) appeared at Royal Ascot in 2017 with two wins under her belt and promptly took the G3 Albany S., the revelling continued not just late into that night but for several months. Stand by then to join the party if Givemethebeatboys (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {Ire}) should follow suit for the Marnanes in the G2 Coventry S. Similarly unbeaten so far in his two starts, the Airlie Stud-bred €11,000 yearling consigned two six-figure rivals to the minor placings when winning the G3 Marble Hill S on Saturday. Like the aforementioned Chaldean and Get Ahead, he is out of a mare by Dutch Art, in this case the 1m4f winner Dromana (Ire), a half-sister to the G3 Henry II S. winner Lismore (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}).

It was a good day for the Marnanes' Bansha House Stables, which sold Salisbury debut winner Reveiller (Ire) at the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale last month. The Archie Watson-trained colt took the tally of wins for Soldier's Call (GB) to 11. Ballyhane Stud's young sire was also trained by Watson and triumphed as a juvenile at Royal Ascot, where a number of his first-crop members will surely be heading.

Incidentally, Different League, who went from being an €8,000 foal to a 1.5 million gns in-training purchase, was represented by her first winner at the Curragh on Friday when her three-year-old son Subzero (Ire), who has borrowed his name from a Melbourne Cup winner, won the three-year-old maiden for Peter Brant and the Coolmore team.

Premierisation and Injunctions

It is generally the preference in this column to sail on and celebrate all that is good about the sport. There are, however, two looming issues which cannot presently be ignored. 

It is a desperate measure for a racecourse operator to have to apply for a High Court order in an attempt to prevent disruption at a major meeting, but this is exactly what the Jockey Club has been forced to do in the wake of overt threats from the protest group Animal Rising. On Friday, an injunction was granted for Epsom Downs, which could lead to fines and/or imprisonment for anyone attempting to prevent the smooth running of races during the Derby meeting. 

The group has been offered a spot near the entrance to the racecourse to conduct a peaceful protest, but it remains a chilling prospect that this will not be taken up, and instead the safety of the horses, which the protestors claim they want to protect, and their jockeys will potentially be put at risk by those intent on halting proceedings.

As well as facing outside threats, racing is not immune to acts of self-harm, and it remains to be seen how well the British Horseracing Authority's 'premierisation' experiment works. In announcing some of the details of this scheme on Thursday, the BHA stressed that this is a two-year trial. Its key element revolves around restricting Saturday afternoons to two premier meetings and one of lesser status, referred to as a core meeting, in order to drive betting turnover. Data supplied to the BHA by the betting industry is said to imply that a clearer schedule during the 2pm to 4pm slot will encourage punters to bet more. It seems a dubious claim, but time will tell.

What is not in doubt is that staging fewer meetings on a Saturday afternoon will have a negative affect on racecourse attendances, which are already on the wane. There are few better ways to introduce new people to the sport than through an enjoyable day out at the races, and for many working people, a weekend afternoon presents the perfect opportunity for this.  

Other racecourses beyond the three with the selected meetings can still race on a Saturday, but they must either start early enough for their races to be concluded by 2pm, or stage a twilight or evening meeting. Both options are less convenient for most racegoers (not to mention owners, trainers and racing staff).

Enhancing the current fare on offer on Sunday afternoons in Britain has also, sensibly, been suggested, and along with that will be staged a trial of Sunday evening racing. It is no surprise that the prospect of the latter has been greeted with widespread dismay. 

As stated, however, it is a trial. If owners and trainers don't like the idea, they can simply not enter to run. It has to be said that some of the language used in reference to this pilot scheme sticks in the craw a little, with the fixtures described as betting sessions rather than race meetings. These six test sessions are, of course, for “lower-grade horses” and will take place between January and March. 

The meetings are clearly not aimed at encouraging racegoers–more for the punter at home during what has been identified as a time when “betting activity tends to be strong”. But the horses and the travelling staff still have to get there and, more importantly during the winter months, get home safely in the cold and dark. The same goes for the owners of those lower-grade horses, plenty of whom enjoy actually going racing to see them run. It is up to them and their trainers to decide whether this is a step too far, or whether the rewards on offer will be enough to entice them away from Countryfile on a Sunday evening.

 

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Observations: All Eyes on Ballydoyle Pair in the “Tough Talk” Maiden

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 Insights features the well-bred River Tiber (Ire) at The Curragh for Ballydoyle. 

1.25 Curragh, Mdn, €17,000, 2yo, 6fT
RIVER TIBER (IRE) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) appears the pick of the two juvenile colts from Ballydoyle making his debut in this maiden which proved such a fertile source of group performers 12 months ago as Tough Talk (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) led home Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) and Shartash (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and other useful types. A 480,000gns Book 1 purchase, the February-foaled bay hails from the family of the 2013 G1 Phoenix S. winner Sudirman (Henrythenavigator) and Star Of India (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who captured last year's Listed Dee S. for this stable. Also here is Democracy (Ire) (No Nay Never), a full-brother to last year's G3 Oh So Sharp S. scorer Midnight Mile (Ire) from the family of Quarter Moon (Ire) (Sadler's Wells).

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‘Auguste Rodin Is The One’ – Aidan O’Brien Dreaming Of Triple Crown Glory

Aidan O'Brien has nominated Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), the ante-post favourite for the 2000 Guineas and the Derby, as being the horse who is most capable of emulating Nijinsky by winning the Triple Crown this season. 

If successful, Auguste Rodin would bridge a 53-year gap, and complete a long-held ambition for the master of Ballydoyle, who came agonisingly close to achieving the feat with Camelot (GB) in 2013.

Auguste Rodin is understood to have come out of an exercise gallop at the Curragh racecourse on Saturday in good shape by O'Brien, who also revealed that he has every faith in last year's crack juvenile Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) getting the Guineas trip. 

Both colts were reported to be on course for Newmarket by O'Brien at a Ballydoyle press morning on Monday.

He explained, “Auguste Rodin and Little Big Bear will be aimed at Newmarket and then the lads will have to decide whether they will let the two of them run together or split them up. They were obviously two very classy colts last year, and what Little Big Bear did in the Phoenix was just different, but we were also very impressed with Auguste Rodin in the Vertem Futurity as everything went wrong in the race.”

O'Brien added, “Little Big Bear would be very comfortable and happy to go back sprinting any time, but there's a very good chance he will get a mile. He races very relaxed.

“Auguste Rodin, you would imagine, will have no bother stretching out to a-mile-and-a-quarter or a-mile-and-a-half. He's that type of horse. We were nearly not running him at Doncaster because of the ground, as he's an exceptional mover–a very slick, very long and low mover. 

“He is that type of horse that could start in the Guineas and stretch out. He was always very classy, from the first time Ryan [Moore] rode him. I remember Ryan riding him in February, as a two-year-old, and he was raving about him then. If we have a horse who could do that [win the Triple Crown], he would definitely be the one.”

One horse who won't be seen at Newmarket in May is Statuette (Justify), who has suffered a setback. Unbeaten in both of her starts at two, including the G2 Airlie Stud S., Statuette will be joined on the easy list by Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the reigning Gold Cup hero, who will miss the defence of his Royal Ascot crown due to injury. 

O'Brien said, “Statuette is on a little bit of a hold-up. I don't think she's going to make the Guineas. We'll go gently with her and see what happens.

“I don't think Kyprios will make the Ascot Gold Cup. He got a little bit of an infection in a joint and it's not settling down. We'll just have to wait and see. It happened a month ago and it's just not settling. Sometimes those things can settle very quickly and sometimes they don't. He got an infection inside the joint-an unusual thing-and the joint had to be flushed. And then there was more infection, so they had to flush it a second time.”

Asked what horses could potentially fill the Gold Cup void for Ballydoyle, O'Brien responded, “We were very impressed with Emily Dickinson (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) at the Curragh, on her last run. She grew another leg when she went to two miles. I'm not sure whether Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) will stretch out that far, but I'd imagine Goodwood, Irish Leger and Melbourne Cup, those types of races for him.”

Breeders' Cup scorer Victoria Road (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) will be trained for the French 2,000 Guineas while an audacious plan has been hatched with the speedy Tenebrism (Caravaggio) to win the G1 King's Stand S. and G1 Platinum Jubilee at Royal Ascot. 

O'Brien said, “I think they [Ballydoyle three-year-olds for this season] are strong. There are plenty of chances there, and we have two very strong Guineas chances, and then we have the horse for France [Victoria Road].”

He added, “Tenebrism is going to go sprinting and will probably start in one of the local sprints. She's nearly ready to go. She's a fast filly, and I'd say five or six furlongs would be comfortable for her.

“Last year we were dallying around with her, seeing where we were going to go, but the minute we started sprinting with her, it was very obvious she was a sprinter. She's very quick. She'll be trained differently. Last year, we were trying to stretch her out, to see how far she would go, and she was still very competitive at those distances because she's just a good filly.”

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