Aidan O'Brien

Aidan O'Brien hailed City Of Troy as the most exciting two-year-old he's trained as the son of Justify was named Europe's champion juvenile for 2023 when the classification was released on Tuesday. He becomes the 13th European champion two-year-old to have been trained by O'Brien, with only Johannesburg (126) achieving a higher rating among the previous 12. A Coolmore homebred out of the G1 Fillies' Mile winner Together Forever (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), City Of Troy went unbeaten in three starts as a two-year-old, culminating with a dominant display when winning...

In Europe, the TDN Rising Stars are awarded by Sean Cronin and Tom Frary, and no amount of begging, bleating or bribery from other members of the editorial team or external forces can persuade this duo to award one if they are not in agreement. Their decisions are based on performance, pedigree and, as the award title suggests, the likelihood of that individual becoming a stakes winner. Today and tomorrow, we bring you 10 TDN Rising Stars of 2023 to follow this year, with the first five having been selected...

Continuing the profiles of the favourite horses of TDN Europe's editorial team in 2023, Tom Frary selects the horse he believes is the best of Aidan O'Brien's nine Derby winners. Sectional timing wasn't around when Dancing Brave tanked down the outer to get within just under a length of Shahrastani in 1986. If it had been, we'd have been able to gauge just how unlucky he was (he was). Maybe if it had been there could also have been a proper assessment of whether El Gran Senor should have prevailed...

City Of Troy (Justify), a winner of the G1 Dewhurst S. and the Cartier Champion 2-Year-Old Colt, will likely not have to contend with stablemate and fellow 'TDN Rising Star' Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas, Aidan O'Brien confirmed. The former, all being well, would then head to the G1 Derby at Epsom, while the latter, a winner of the G1 National S., is possible for the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas before a crack at the G1 St James's Palace S. at Royal Ascot in...

Officials at the Hong Kong Jockey Club could offer their devoted fans only limited access to the Longines Hong Kong International Races meeting from 2020 to 2022, a necessity attributable to the Coronavirus outbreak in March 2020, and while the attendance restrictions were gradually eased over the next few years, there were certain parameters and restrictions in place to ensure the show would go on. With things more or less back to normal in the SAR, the patrons--a reported 65,252 of them--poured through the Sha Tin turnstiles Sunday afternoon to...

Some 44 horses representing England, France, Ireland, Japan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates in addition to a typically deep group representing the home team will line up for Sunday's Longines Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin Racecourse in the New Territories, with record prizemoney of HK$118 million (£12 million/US$15.1 million) up for grabs across the four events. There figure to be clear favourites in each of the four races, but each come with his own set of question marks.   Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) loves the Sha...

The obstacles were already considerable for three-time reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) long before connections of the 44 runners for Sunday's Longines Hong Kong International Races meeting took their seats for Thursday's morning barrier draw in the Sha Tin parade ring. Already a nine-time Group 1 winner and victorious in 25 of his 29 career starts, the 8-year-old has not started since defeating Beauty Joy (Aus) (Sebring {Aus}) in the G1 Champions Mile in late April, a 224-day hiatus. Only twice in his...

Champion and pensioned stallion Stravinsky (Nureyev--Fire the Groom, by Blushing Groom {Fr}) passed away from the infirmities of old age at JBBA Shizunai Stallion Station in Japan earlier this week, Net Keiba reported on Friday. A notable broodmare sire, he was 27. "We are truly saddened to lose him and are grateful for all the support from his fans over the years," Shigeki Yusa posted on X. Bred by R. D. Hubbard, E. C. Allred and C. Sczesny in Kentucky, the $625,000 Keeneland July yearling was purchased by Coolmore interests...

Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) are among 16 elite-level winners and 25 overseas-based horses that have been extended invitations to the Longines Hong Kong International Races meeting at Sha Tin Racecourse Sunday, Dec. 9. Winner of this year's G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup and a narrowly beaten second to his GI Breeders' Cup Turf-winning stable companion Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in defence of his crown in the G1 Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown Sept. 9, the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup-bound Luxembourg...

Charlie Appleby says Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) will line out in Friday's $1m Bahrain International Trophy with a favourite's chance but admitted that stall 12 could make things tricky for the dual Group 1 winner as Godolphin ready a five-strong team for the Group 2 contest. Last seen winning the G1 Canadian International in October, Nations Pride will be joined by stablemate Highland Avenue (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), with William Buick opting to ride the former in his bid to win the race for a first time. Appleby said, "Nations...

Aidan O'Brien's St Leger winner Continuous (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) will miss the Japan Cup next weekend due to stiffness. His scheduled run at Tokyo racecourse on November 26 had garnered plenty of interest amongst the locals. Not only was he due to take on the brilliant Equinox, currently rated as the best horse in the world, but Continuous is a son of the popular Japanese stallion Heart's Cry. Heart's Cry was a quality performer in Japan and beat Deep Impact, the sire of O'Brien's dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin,...

It may be November but Aidan O'Brien has already whet the appetite for next season by announcing that dual Derby and Breeders' Cup winner Auguste Rodin will stay in training as a four-year-old. Auguste Rodin capped off a brilliant campaign with a sensational success in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita under an inspired Ryan Moore just over a week ago.  It was viewed by many as the perfect swansong by the coveted son of Deep Impact but, when Auguste Rodin did not feature on the list of stallion...