Stone Age (Ire) | Horse Racing Free Tips

Euro Invaders Converge for Triple Turf Series

Wielding great might in Europe, the Aidan O'Brien arsenal has also proven one to be respected in many of the nation's top turf contests. That influence will once again be in evidence this weekend with the appearance of Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Concert Hall (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who arrived in New York Wednesday and are slated to contest Saturday's 10-furlong first legs of NYRA's Caesars Turf Triple series. The former, bred and co-owned by Peter Brant with Coolmore partners Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Westerberg, is set for the GI Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational, while Westerberg, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith's Concert Hall takes on nine other fillies in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational. Runner up in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud at two, Stone Age was a prominent winner of the 10-furlong G3 Derby Trial in May at Leopardstown before finishing sixth last time out in the 12-furlong G1 Cazoo Derby June 4.

“He showed plenty of pace [in the Derby Trial],” explained O'Brien. “He traveled very strongly and galloped through the line very well. There's a chance that going back to 10 furlongs might suit him better. We thought he would have no problem with the mile and a half [last out], but there might be a chance that it was too far for him. He seems to have come out of the Derby well.”

Ryan Moore, who is slated to ride both O'Brien runners this weekend, was also on board for last season's Belmont Derby and Belmont Oaks with Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), respectively. O'Brien also captured the 2016 renewal of the Belmont Derby with Deauville (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), courtesy of Jamie Spencer.

Also considered for last weekend's G1 Coral-Eclipse S. won by Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}), Stone Age gets the opportunity to face fellow sophomores in New York.

“We had the choice of going here [to New York] or going to the Eclipse and we decided to come to [the New York] race, which is a race we thought would suit him well,” O'Brien explained. “Your race suits perfectly to give him another chance against his own age and then we can step up again against older horses after if we want.”

Also facing fellow 3-year-olds, Concert Hall will be attempting to give O'Brien his third victory in the race. In her two most recent races, she finished fourth in the 12-furlong Epsom Oaks June 3 and was elevated from fifth in the 10-furlong G1 Pretty Polly S. June 26 at The Curragh.

“She didn't have much luck inside the last couple of furlongs,” O'Brien said of her latest start. “She got a bad enough bump and squeeze and had to stop and go back to last and come around them again. She was staying on well at the line.”

At two, Concert Hall won The Curragh's G3 Weld Park S. going seven furlongs and returned this April to capture the 10-furlong Listed Salsabil S. at Navan. She subsequently finished third in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas in May at The Curragh.

Further underscoring the influence of the O'Brien name this weekend, Aidan O'Brien's son, Joseph, will be represented in the Belmont Oaks by multiple group winning Agartha (Ire) (Caravaggio), who finished fifth last time in the G1 Irish Guineas May 22. The junior O'Brien, who recently confirmed he will keep a small string of horses in Saratoga this summer, took last season's Saratoga Derby with State of Rest (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), who is possible for either the July 27 G1 Sussex S. at Goodwood or Deauville's G1 Jacques le Marois next month.

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Casting The Longfellow’s Shadow In The Derby

Saturday's G1 Cazoo Derby is no ordinary Derby, being placed squarely in the Platinum Jubilee celebrations and bearing the title “In Memory of Lester Piggott”, so the onus is on the latest collection of elite middle-distance colts to rise to the occasion. Famed for his ability to pick and choose in his heyday, the question is what would the Longfellow have opted for in this line-up? Few would say anything other than the edition's pop idol Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), whose Dante win had all the purists pricking up their ears, but then there is the Ballydoyle collective and the draw of the ruthless galloper Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), or would he have sided with the surefire stayers Changingoftheguard (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Piz Badile (Ire) (Ulysses {Ire})? If the rain comes in stair-rods, as it could, and it comes up soft then it will take a Teenoso-like performance to win, but if the ground stays perfectly in the middle as it was on Friday then it is odds-on that Lester would have been eagle-eyeing Sir Michael Stoute's potential boy wonder.

Hitting Them For Six

It is 41 years since the “Choirboy” Walter Swinburn enjoyed the perfect Epsom spin on the first of Stoute's Blue Riband heroes Shergar (GB) and 11 since Ryan Moore delivered a fifth on Workforce (GB), so in cricket terminology victory for Saeed Suhail's 'TDN Rising Star' Desert Crown would be delivering that sacred six for the cricket-devoted master of Freemason Lodge. Habitually prone to bat away all unwelcome attention, the famed Barbadian will be unable to stem the flow of warmth that will inevitably come his way if his unbeaten colt can come through this examination with that record intact. As the Sir Henry Cecil story showed, racing has its way of raising up its gods when they are at their most vulnerable and while it may seem fanciful, it could be that Desert Crown has been gifted following the sad passing of his partner Coral Pritchard-Gordon. If there is such a thing as a stand-out on potential, this colt represents it and he looks to possess a rare amount of ability. Like Swinburn back in the day, it is a jockey without abundant big-race experience who is charged with the responsibility but there is little to fear where the tactically-astute Yamaha-riding Richard Kingscote is concerned.

The Great Obstacle

Stoute's experience with The Queen's Carlton House (Street Cry {Ire}) in 2011 is a reminder that to get to Tesio's winning post first you have to subdue the force of Coolmore, which has been omnipresent ever since Galileo set a new tone 21 years ago. While the 2011 winner Pour Moi (Ire) was a rare runner for the operation not trained by Aidan O'Brien, it is Rosegreen that has come to be seen as the great harvester of Derby heroes over the past two decades. Remarkably, six of O'Brien's record eight winners have come in the last 10 renewals and while it is possible to waylay the stable's progress it is nigh-on impossible to achieve anything other than a temporary interruption to the machine. The Derby is in the very bricks, mortar and soil of the Co. Tipperary establishment and it always seems to wend its way back there one way or another. Be they in the form of the remorseless front-runner Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the strong late closer Wings of Eagles (Fr) (Pour Moi {Ire}), long-shots like that pair or “good things” such as Australia (GB) or Camelot (GB), it matters not. Aidan O'Brien just does Derbys.

A New Era

Ballydoyle began its Derby saga in cahoots with the American kingpins Raymond Guest, Charles Engelhard and John Galbreath, before forging a partnership in steel with Robert Sangster. In recent times, it has been Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith who have profited from sailing on the good ship and now it is the time of Georg von Opel's Westerberg and Peter Brant. Von Opel's increasingly-prevalent silks would have been carried by the long-time ante-post favourite Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) had he made the gig, but now they are sported solely by the dominant Chester Vase winner Changingoftheguard. Is there a story involved in this one, who was bred by Ben Sangster and whose family features the Piggott-bred Superstar Leo (Ire) (College Chapel {GB})? Brant's stock is fast on the rise in Europe and in Stone Age he has a colt who seems to have been sculpted with all the natural and learned guile of the greatest trainer in the history of Thoroughbred racing.

The Long Wait

When Stavros Niarchos began his quest for a Derby winner back in the late 70s, it would have been surprising that it would still not be forthcoming over 40 years later. Despite the ongoing pursuit for the holy grail, the distant 1985 and 2012 runner's-up Law Society and Main Sequence (Aldebaran) remain the closest it has come to fruition. How remarkable it would be if the 23-year-old Donnacha O'Brien were to supply it with Piz Badile, a relative of the emotive 2007 Oaks heroine Light Shift (Kingmambo). His sire Ulysses was only 12th in the 2016 renewal before hitting the heights at four and O'Brien, Jr. has stated that he expects the imposing homebred to be better in 2023, but there was enough in his battling win in Leopardstown's Apr. 2 G3 Ballysax S. to suggest he is not just one for the future.

Will It Go West?

The idea that West Wind Blows (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) would be lining up here seemed unlikely in the immediate aftermath of getting loose before the start of Newbury's Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup British EBF Conditions S. and being withdrawn from that Apr. 17 contest won by the subsequent Listed Lingfield Derby Trial runner-up Walk of Stars (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). That was before Abdulla Al Mansoori's son of the G1 Prix de Diane heroine West Wind (GB) (Machiavellian) went to Nottingham and dominated a 10-furlong novice in which the G3 Sandown Classic Trial fourth Franz Strauss (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) was soundly beaten. Big and powerful, the bay has paid a visit here in the interim and rates as the race's most intriguing outsiders for Simon and Ed Crisford.

“The mile and a half is well within his reach and that trip will probably see the best of him, as he has very high cruising gears,” jockey Jack Mitchell said. “He is relatively unexposed and I just hope that he can run his race. I was quite happy with stall 11, as if he does run a bit keen we know that we are not boxed on the inside and that if he does pull I can let him go on and use his stride.”

Click here for the group fields.

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Cazoo Derby Features Desert Crown Among 21 Remaining

Saeed Suhail's Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) anchors the 21 colts remaining at this entry stage for the G1 Cazoo Derby on June 4. The Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt is a perfect two-for-two after winning the G2 Dante S. at York on May 12. He is joined by the Godolphin duo of Listed Blue Riband Trial winner Nahanni (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and the stakes-placed Walk of Stars (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), both trained by Charlie Appleby. Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore partners have a quintet of colts still entered-Changingoftheguard (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who won the G3 Boodles Chester Vase S., G3 Amethyst S. runner-up Ivy League (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Listed Dee S. winner Star of India (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), G3 Derby Trial S. scorer Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), and Listed SBK Derby Trial S. victor United Nations (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

One horse no longer taking part in the Epsom Downs Classic is Cash (Ire) (Shamardal), who finished second in the Listed bet365 Classic Trial at Sandown on Apr. 22.

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Stone Age Caps Galileo Week To Extend Ballydoyle’s Derby Dominance

Barely moments after the news broke that Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) will miss the G1 Cazoo Derby, a stunning G3 Derby Trial win by Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}–Bonanza Creek {Ire}, by Anabaa) caused the Ballydoyle seismometer to significantly downgrade its disaster measurement. Throughout what can only be termed as “Galileo week”, the stable's Classic trial winners have come in a relentless flow and the injury to the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy which would normally have registered as a five on the Richter scale was only a one or two as Peter Brant, Susan Magnier and Michael Tabor's 10-11 favourite had delivered his own dynamic display in the famed Leopardstown trial. Putting himself in the midst of an already outrageous battalion of Epsom Classic contenders from Rosegreen, last year's G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud runner-up who had more than hinted at this kind of prowess with a nine-length maiden win at Navan Mar. 29 may well have done enough to secure Ryan Moore's allegiance heading to the Blue Riband. Power-packed the whole way isolated in front, he kept it up from the top of the straight to do it like Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) had 12 months ago. At the line, there was a 5 1/2-length margin back to Glory Daze (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}), who was in turn a neck ahead of French Claim (Fr) (French Fifteen {Fr}). “He has that class, he's able to pick up and then he pushes it out all the way to the line,” enthused Aidan O'Brien, whose magical week involved nine winners partnered by the similarly untouchable Moore.

After all three UK Derby trials were scooped from Wednesday to Saturday, the pressure was on Stone Age to stretch the sequence in this staging post which has held such gravitas ever since Galileo himself put his stamp on it 21 years ago. Not Aidan O'Brien's first winner of the race, the late great stallion of steel was nevertheless the most important of the 15 overall and his influence will continue on this race a long time after his recent passing. This week has taken the form of a prolonged tribute to the sire's legend, with the clinching of the worldwide stakes record from Danehill in Wednesday's Listed Cheshire Oaks merely signalling the opening of the floodgates. His progeny have cleaned up in all bar one of the Classic trials on offer at Chester, Naas, Lingfield and here and this was stakes winner number 353, with Stone Age following Thoughts of June (GB), Changingoftheguard (GB), Star of India (GB), United Nations (GB) and History (Ire) in another landmark period for a stable which brooks no limitations.

Aside from his second in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud, Stone Age had also filled that spot behind Atomic Jones (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in this venue's G2 Champions Juvenile S. on the Irish Champions Day card and in a Galway maiden where the smart Buckaroo (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) had his measure. A winter's maturing, change of tactics, stepping up to middle distances and faster ground have resulted in a colt who is now a force to be reckoned with as the summer's big heats approach. “We always felt he was very good and we weren't really worrying about winning a maiden last year,” O'Brien reflected. “He has plenty of pace–he's a high cruiser, he's tactical and he keeps going. He ran over seven in a group 1 at two, so he's a high-tempo horse. He's a big hardy horse, he's not a wimp now.”

Ballydoyle's pecking order is there to be established now, with York still to come. While last year's Derby Trial winner Bolshoi Ballet went to Epsom alone, that is unlikely to happen in 2022 and O'Brien admitted he is unable to establish a clear hierarchy among the trial winners so far. “It's impossible really,” he continued. “Because all the trials were at different times they were all on different work schedules. Ryan will talk to the lads and hopefully they'll come up with a solution to the whole thing. You'd have to be very happy, any of the ones that had two runs have come forward from their first to their second.”
Stone Age's dam is a full-sister to the G3 Prix de Psyche and G3 Prix de Flore winner and G1 Prix de l'Opera runner-up Board Meeting (Ire) (Anabaa), who produced the Listed Prix Michel Houyvet scorer and G3 Prix de Conde runner-up Big Blue (GB) from a mating with Galileo. The second dam, the four-times group-winning Bright Moon (Alysheba), is also responsible for the G1 Prix de Diane and Prix de l'Opera heroine Bright Sky (Ire) (Wolfhound) and the dam of the G2 Union-Rennen and G3 Preis des Winterfavoriten winner Best of Lips (Ire) by Galileo's The Gurkha (Ire). Bonanza Creek has the 2-year-old filly Sandy Creek (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and a yearling filly by Churchill (Ire).

Sunday, Leopardstown, Ireland
DERBY TRIAL S.-G3, €70,000, Leopardstown, 5-8, 3yo, 10fT, 2:08.25, gd.
1–STONE AGE (IRE), 131, c, 3, by Galileo (Ire)
1st Dam: Bonanza Creek (Ire), by Anabaa
2nd Dam: Bright Moon, by Alysheba
3rd Dam: Bonshamile (GB), by Ile de Bourbon
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GROUP WIN. O-Peter M Brant & Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor; B-White Birch Farm SC (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. €42,000. Lifetime Record: G1SP-Fr, 7-2-3-1, $152,155. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Glory Daze (Ire), 131, c, 3, Cotai Glory (GB)–Pioneer Alexander (Ire), by Rip Van Winkle (Ire).
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (£3,000 Ylg '20 GOFSPT). O-Glory Gold Partnership; B-Mount Armstrong Stud (IRE); T-Andrew Oliver. €14,000.
3–French Claim (Fr), 131, c, 3, French Fifteen (Fr)–Zahrada, by Galileo (Ire).
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (€9,000 Ylg '20 ARQAU; £36,000 2yo '21 TATGOR). O-Teme Valley; B-Mathieu Daguzan-Garros & Jean-Claude Gour (FR); T-Paddy Twomey. €7,000.
Margins: 5HF, NK, 3 1/4. Odds: 0.91, 18.00, 2.75.
Also Ran: Atomic Jones (Fr), Duke de Sessa (Ire), Manu Et Corde (Ire), Great Max (Ire). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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