Coolmore

Aidan O'Brien has yet to win the G1 Prix de Diane Longines and son Donnacha has the jump on him in his first season training after Fancy Blue (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) battled to glory in Sunday's Chantilly Classic. Runner-up but the major eye-catcher in the June 13 G1 Irish 1000 Guineas at The Curragh, Michael Tabor's second-string behind the winner of that Classic Peaceful (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was always close to the pace set by the G1 Coronation S. heroine Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea the Moon {Ger}). Gaining the...

It was a clear-record eighth G1 Investec Derby at Epsom on Saturday for Aidan O'Brien, but not necessarily with the expected one as Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) went off on his own under Emmet McNamara and did a "Slip Anchor" to score by 5 1/2 lengths. Always clear at the head of affairs, the previous Saturday's nine-length Curragh maiden winner was still dangerously out of reach swinging around Tattenham Corner and kept grinding to lead home a shock trifecta. Khalifa Sat (Ire) (Free Eagle {Ire}), Andrew Balding's second string behind...

Already an emphatic winner of the G1 1000 Guineas, Coolmore's Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) entered elite territory on Saturday with a nine-length romp in the G1 Investec Oaks at Epsom. While not quite in the arena of the 12-length 1983 heroine Sun Princess (GB), this winning margin equalled that of the 1996 heroine Lady Carla (GB) (Caerleon) and there have been only four fillies in this race's history to have won by further. Settled behind a duo among the main six-strong group racing adrift of the runaway pacemakers Tiempo Vuela...

By 3.35pm on Sunday, the Derby and Oaks will already be old news and the dust will be settling after Chantilly's early-afternoon prestige races. As if all the Classics that played out over the longest weekend were mere support acts, Juddmonte's sovereign Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) is back to take up most of the headline inches in a renewal of Sandown's G1 Coral-Eclipse which rates as one of the finest in its recent history. No horse in training has the same draw as the 6-year-old and although the Classic generation...

G1 Prix du Jockey Club DAWN INTELLO (FR) (Intello {Ger}-Gadalka, by Giant's Causeway) The dual winner Dawn Intello, who makes the jump to pattern company here, was offered by Montaigu at Arqana's October Yearling Sale in 2018, where he was picked up by Rabbah on behalf of Jaber Abdullah for €57,000. The unplaced dam is a daughter of the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac heroine Sulk (Ire) (Selkirk), the half-sister to American champion and dual Grade I winner Dank (GB) (Dansili {GB}). B-V Timoshenko FANTASTIC SPIRIT (FR) (Charm Spirit {Ire}-Fantastic Cuix...

Saturday sees racing continue its measured defiance of the chaos around the globe, with the 241st renewal of one of the beautiful races, the G1 Investec Derby, emanating light as a beacon to the world's audience from its traditional home of Epsom Downs in Surrey. As it is, this will likely be the only post-Royal Ascot one, which adds a fascinating new dimension to a dramatically purse-reduced renewal and also to the stage-sharing G1 Investec Oaks. Due to the vagaries of the current situation, only one of the 24 colts...

G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby winner Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) could clash with three-times G1 Ascot Gold Cup hero Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in next month's G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup. Victorious in the 14-furlong G2 Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot, Santiago dropped back to a mile and a half at The Curragh just eight days later and fended off stablemate Tiger Moth (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) to take the Classic honours. Aidan O'Brien's charge is the ante-post favourite for the G1 St Leger at Doncaster in September, but...

Aidan O'Brien is likely to split his 1000 Guineas winners Peaceful (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), with the former, the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner, pencilled in for Sunday's G1 Prix de Diane and the latter, the G1 1000 Guineas winner, likely for the G1 Investec Oaks on July 4. "I was talking to the lads [John Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor] this morning and it looks like Love, Passion (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Ennistymon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) will go to Epsom," said O'Brien. "Peaceful might...

Playing host to a Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in full swing, Sunday's G1 Alwasmiyah Pretty Polly S. at The Curragh was as good as over after less than a furlong as Seamie Heffernan committed to front-running duties on the returning 2-5 favourite. Kept in training for good reason, the G1 English and Irish Champion S. and G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup heroine of 2019 showed no mercy to her opposition and took off heading to two out en route to a 4 1/2-length dismissal of the 3-year-old Cayenne Pepper (Ire) (Australia...

The Curragh played host to another TDN Rising Star on Sunday as Ballydoyle's newcomer Hudson River (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) made all to take the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden with the promise of much to come. Showing dash from the break to gain the lead and rail advantage under Seamie Heffernan, the first foal out of the dual G1 Nunthorpe S. heroine Mecca's Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) who was the 3-1 joint-favourite was always doing enough in front and at the line had a comfortable 1 1/2-length margin to...

It was labelled as wide-open, but in the end Saturday's G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at The Curragh proved anything but as Aidan O'Brien was in dominating form yet again with Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) leading home a remarkable stable one-two-three-four. Sent off the clear 2-1 favourite coming back eight days after his emphatic win in the G2 Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot, the bay was always travelling with supreme ease anchored towards the rear by a confident Seamie Heffernan. Cutting through the pack and getting an ideal split...

Is the grass really greener on the other side of the fence? That's certainly a plausible inference, looking at the latest Grade I event staged on American turf. Of the seven fillies and mares contesting the Just A Game S. at Belmont on Saturday, four were bred in Europe; and three of those also started their track careers there. Moreover the solitary American winner at Royal Ascot was actually bred and raised in Ireland, and exported only last fall from Tattersalls. It stands to reason, of course, if European blood...