Ana O'Brien

The first foal by Little Big Bear (Ire), Europe's champion juvenile of 2022, was born on Saturday when Unchained Melody (Ire), owned by Aidan and Annmarie O'Brien's Whisperview Trading Limited, produced a bay filly. "She's a pretty filly with a good hind leg," said Ana O'Brien. "[She's] a very good first foal and a great start for the mare. We're very happy with her and will definitely be supporting Little Big Bear again this year." Unchained Melody is a daughter of Fastnet Rock (Aus) and hails from the famed Ballymacoll...

Top bloodstock agent Mags O'Toole, Mickley Stud boss Richard Kent and Ana O'Brien were some of the key industry figures to give this year's Irish Stallion Trail the thumbs up.  For Kent, this weekend marked his first time attending the trail, and it could prove an expensive trip for the Cork native who is now based in Shropshire, after he pencilled in a host of the farm's best mares to visit some of the stallions he was most taken with.  He said, "We started off with Tally-Ho Stud on Friday...

ASCOT, UK -- Far from the madding crowd of the royal meeting, the exploits of those five heady days were still being celebrated at Ascot on Friday. And rightly so, for this was the day of the annual Royal Ascot winning breeders' lunch, a lovely touch from the racecourse to recognise those who make this great sport happen.  There's no one-upmanship here. Every breeder will tell you how much they need the owners - most of them are also owners themselves - and all the various participants in racing matter,...

ASCOT, UK -- Back she came. A star on the rise this day last year and now one fully ascended to the highest grade possible. Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio) has truly been a lucky charm for her syndicate of American owners, who bought her after she had made just once successful start in the colours of her co-breeder, Annemarie O'Brien. Two starts later she won the G3 Albany Stakes, and now she is a winner at Royal Ascot once more in the G1 Coronation Stakes.  For Philip Shelton, who manages...

Racing fans who have always had a bit of trouble believing in the magic that goes on behind the gates at Ballydoyle or at Owning Hill need not look any further than the result of last week's Ballyhane S. at Naas. There are some people, so hell-bent in their views that the sole reason why Aidan and Joseph O'Brien have conquered some of the greatest prizes in racing, is because they have all the best horses at their disposal. It sounds somewhat plausible, doesn't it? Aidan and Joseph have been...