Derrick Smith

Aidan O'Brien trainee Lambourn (Australia) was afforded the freedom of Epsom when making all for a wide-margin triumph in the G1 Derby and, prevented from enjoying a moment's relief in Sunday's Irish equivalent at the Curragh, was all heart in becoming the 20th horse to complete the Classic double. He found plenty, and then some, under Ryan Moore's forceful urgings inside final half-mile to provide the Ballydoyle maestro with a record-extending 17th, and third straight, success in the race. "He's a very straightforward horse that gets the trip well," said...

Coolmore's twice-raced maiden True Love (No Nay Never) went down fighting when runner-up to G2 Coventry-winning stablemate Gstaad in the second of two starts last month and, hammered down to clear favourite for Wednesday's G2 Queen Mary Stakes, duly delivered a first renewal for Aidan O'Brien. She also restored family honour in the five-furlong dash and eclipsed her sister Truly Enchanting's 13th last year. The race was marred by the fatal injury to the Richard Hannon-trained Harry's Girl (Harry's Angel). True Love broke swiftly from stall 25 of 25 and...

There was a Guineas-Oaks double on the line in Friday's Betfred-sponsored Classic, but in truth Desert Flower never really featured as Ballydoyle's Epsom stranglehold tightened further. From the start, the stable's number one Minnie Hauk followed stablemate Whirl around and from over two out it was that pair who dominated, coming home in isolation to complete another successful assault by Rosegreen on the fillies' monument. An astonishing 11th in this particular race. Frankel's Minnie Hauk, who was a headline act from the first sight of her in public at the...

Aidan O'Brien has targetted the Curragh's G3 GAIN Marble Hill Stakes as a tried-and-trusted stepping stone to next month's G2 Coventry Stakes and put forward his strongest contender, TDN Rising Star Albert Einstein (Wootton Bassett), who overcame traffic problems with a set of impressive gears in the six-furlong contest. The January-foaled Coolmore homebred went postward as the prohibitively priced 4-11 favourite and raced a shade keenly in a handy fifth through the early stages. Tanking forward into third passing halfway, he was forced to switch around the unyielding leading duo...

Aidan O'Brien trainee Gstaad (Starspangledbanner), a 450,000gns Tattersalls December foal and half-brother to G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park Stakes hero Vandeek (Havana Grey), made a winning debut in Saturday's Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden at Navan. The 7-1 chance produced a determined effort to deny stablemate True Love (No Nay Never) by 3/4-of-a-length nearing the line in the six-furlong contest.   NOT the finishing order the market expected 450,000gns Starspangledbanner colt , a half-brother to Vandeek, makes a winning start to his career by getting up late on...

Just minutes after stablemate Henri Matisse (Wootton Bassett) secured G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains glory in France, Aidan O'Brien nominee and TDN Rising Star Delacroix (Dubawi) laid his Classic credentials on the line in Leopardstown's G3 Cashel Palace Hotel Derby Trial Stakes and passed with flying colours, registering a 2 3/4-length triumph in the 10-furlong test. Last seen annexing March's G3 Ballysax Stakes over the Foxrock venue's same mile-and-a-quarter strip, the 1-3 favourite accepted a tow from stablemate Rock Of Cashel (Wootton Bassett) and raced second after breaking on the...

Representatives of Wootton Bassett's first Coolmore crop continued their plunder of elite-level contests with last term's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Henri Matisse doubling his tally at the top table and registering a narrow victory, in track-record time, from Juddmonte's TDN Rising Star Jonquil (Lope De Vega) in Sunday's G1 Emirates Poule d'Essai des Poulains at ParisLongchamp. The 12-5 favourite was positioned many lengths off the tempo as a group of five stole a march on the remainder of the field through halfway. Bustled along to reduce arrears upon...

Coolmore and Westerberg's hitherto unraced Albert Einstein (Wootton Bassett) had received favourable reports in recent dispatches from Ballydoyle and justified his lofty reputation with a TDN Rising Star performance going just shy of six furlongs in Saturday's Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden at Naas. The January-foaled bay's potential was reflected in the betting market and he headed postward as a rock-solid 1-2 favourite for this Royal Ascot stepping stone. Shadowing the pace set by 9-4 market rival Evening Blues (Blue Point) after a professional exit, he quickened smartly to challenge...

With just two overmatched rivals in opposition, Aidan O'Brien trainee Giselle's superior form and class told as the daughter of Frankel overcame Lingfield's Epsom-style intricacies, delivering a facile nine-length success in the track's William Hill-sponsored Listed Oaks Trial on Saturday. Last term's G3 Staffordstown Stud Stakes third and 3-10 pick was a shade keen racing third in a first-time hood through the initial stages of this seasonal debut. Negotiating the downhill section and taking closer order in the home straight, she seized control approaching the quarter-mile marker and bounded clear...

Aidan O'Brien trainee Mount Kilimanjaro (Siyouni) needed every yard of Thursday's Listed Boodles Raindance Dee Stakes and continued the Ballydoyle maestro's dominance of this year's Chester Cup meeting with a seventh win in eight renewals, and a record-breaking 12th overall, in the extended 10-furlong contest. Last year's Criterium d'Automne winner and G1 Criterium International runner-up broke well and settled in fifth passing the judge first time, but slipped to sixth at halfway. Coming under pressure with a quarter-mile remaining, the even-money favourite was under a full Ryan Moore pump thereafter...

Navan's Saturday card featured a trio of black-type contests, but early focus centred on the €18,000 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden for juveniles, in which Coolmore and Westerberg's Charles Darwin (Ire) (No Nay Never), a full-brother to dual Group 1 winner Blackbeard (Ire), illuminated proceedings with a spectacular 5 1/2-length triumph. Aidan O'Brien had annexed three consecutive renewals of the near-six furlong contest, including with subsequent G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere hero Camille Pissarro (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) last year, and his 8-11 pick was away sharply to gain immediate control...

Ballydoyle's standard had been hoisted just once in Sandown's G3 bet365 Classic Trial during the Aidan O'Brien era and last term's G3 Tyros Stakes runner-up Swagman (Ger) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) doubled that tally with a determined effort in this year's renewal of the 10-furlong feature. Let go at generous odds of 9-2, the €170,000 BBAG September graduate was the only one of five contenders without a ticket to Epsom's Blue Riband and, coming back off a 274-day sabbatical, stalked the leading duo in third for the most part. Easing outside...