Michael O'Callaghan

Michael O'Callaghan trainee Kairyu (Ire) (Kuroshio {Aus}--Vegatina {GB}, by Lope De Vega {Ire}) was the clear-cut winner of a five-furlong Naas maiden last month and franked the promise of that debut score with an upset win upped in trip for Saturday's G3 Jebel Ali Racecourse And Stables Anglesey S. at the Curragh. Kairyu employed patient tactics from flagfall and lobbed along off the pace in sixth through the early fractions. Making smooth headway once past halfway, the 4-1 chance quickened beyond rivals to seize control approaching the final furlong and...

I Am Invictus (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}), fourth in the G2 Railway S. earlier this month, has joined the Tattersalls July Sale as a wildcard and will be offered as part of The Castlebridge Consignment. Placed in maidens at Naas behind future G2 Coventry S. winner River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Navan in the wake of the subsequent listed-placed Pearls And Rubies (No Nay Never) in May and June, respectively, the Michael O'Callaghan trainee is out of Asrafairy (Ire) (Zebedee {GB}) and will be consigned as lot 516B....

Tally-Ho Stud's Roger O'Callaghan has paid tribute to the record-breaking Harry Angel colt who sold for £500,000 at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale on Tuesday but died less than two days later in a transport accident. The Harry Angel colt was sold to trainer Michael O'Callaghan, who held off the persistent challenge of Amo Racing's Kia Joorabchian as underbidder. Roger O'Callaghan told TDN Europe on Saturday morning, "It's a crying shame but accidents happen. We'll never know how good he really was." The horse was pinhooked by Tally-Ho Stud for...

Late in the day, a colt by Harry Angel (Ire) (lot 191) brought £500,000 from Michael O'Callaghan to take the lead at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale at Doncaster. The price is a new record for the sale. Consigned by Tally-Ho Stud, the chestnut colt is a son of Listed Stonehenge S. winner Go Angellica (Ire) (Kheleyf), herself a half-sister to stakes winner Brendenbury (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}). Another half-sister produced dual group winner Twilight Jet (Ire) (Twilight Son {GB}). The colt was a €38,000 purchase out of the...

Michael O'Callaghan is eyeing big-race riches in Dubai with half-brothers I Am Superman (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) and Fastnet Crown (Ire) (Hallowed Crown {Aus}) before making the move to a new purpose-built yard near the Curragh ahead of the turf season proper.  However, the leading Irish trainer has said that he remains in the dark over his position with Amo Racing despite sending out Crypto Force (GB) (Time Test {GB}) to secure G2 Beresford S. glory for Kia Joorabchian's major ownership vehicle at the Curragh last season.  Crypto Force joined the...

Amo Racing's £900,000 Goffs London graduate Crypto Force (GB) (Time Test {GB}--Luna Mare {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) bounced back from a first reversal, when seventh in Royal Ascot's June 18 Listed Chesham S., to loosen Aidan O'Brien's stranglehold on Saturday's G2 Alan Smurfit Memorial Beresford S. over one mile at the Curragh. He had earlier accounted for subsequent 'TDN Rising Star' and G2 Golden Fleece S. victor Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in his June 1 debut over seven furlongs here and employed patient tactics at the tail of...

LONDON, UK--There has been an awful lot of water under the bridge since Goffs UK last convened its London Sale in the royal parks, but somehow the bloodstock market has meanwhile stayed buoyantly afloat. In this country, demand for horses in training has remained a priceless lifeline, and the additional kudos of a Royal Ascot entry for the majority of lots elevated the bidding along with the thermometer as summer made a timely arrival in Kensington Palace Gardens. That proved equally true among those defending reserves and those managing to...

There was no catching Michael and Julia Iavarone and Michael O'Callaghan's Twilight Jet (Ire) (Twilight Son {GB}) in Sunday's G3 Goffs Lacken S. at Naas as he led from pillar to post in a dynamic display of speed. Sent off at 9-2, last year's G3 Cornwallis S. winner was quicker than Ballydoyle's 6-5 favourite New York City (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) at every step and gave generously for Leigh Roche to beat that Listed Committed S. scorer by three lengths. The returning G3 Anglesey S. winner Beauty Inspire (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire})...

NEWMARKET, UK--Officially the breeze-ups in Europe are no time test, but unofficially most people with a desire to buy a 2-year-old from these auctions avail themselves of a list of times, or time the breezes themselves, and usually speed sells. Appropriately enough then, it was a colt by one of the current buzz sires, Time Test (GB), who lived up to his father's name when put through his paces on the Rowley Mile on Tuesday morning before topping the sale at 160,000gns.  Michael O'Callaghan is a regular buyer of breezers...

Del Mar, CA--This spring, Irish trainer Michael O'Callaghan decided to roll the dice. Betting on his own past successes at the breeze-up sales, O'Callaghan and his investors doubled down on prospects they predicted could get them to the winner's circle and land lucrative overseas sales. That gamble has taken them all the way from The Curragh to Southern California for the Breeders' Cup, with Twilight Jet (GB) (Twilight Son {GB}) lining up in Friday's GII Juvenile Turf Sprint for O'Callaghan and new part-owner Michael Iavarone. At £210,000, Twilight Jet was...

Dual Group 1 runner-up Pearls Galore (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) has been confirmed for the upcoming GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Del Mar in November. A winner of the G3 Brownstown S. on July 11 and G3 Fairy Bridge S. on Aug. 26, the Haras de Saint-Pair homebred was second in both the G1 Matron S. at Leopardstown on Sept. 11 and the Oct. 3 G1 Prix de la Foret. Trainer Paddy Twomey said, "She came out of the race last weekend fantastic and she's in good form. She's going...

NEWMARKET, UK--So which way would the breeze blow this time? Just like the spring, teetering between the frost that coated the sales grounds on Friday morning and the imminent return of the swifts, the Tattersalls Guineas Sale caught the juvenile market at a pivot of the weathervane. After a traumatic experience last year, the sector had opened a new cycle with a solid start at the Craven Sale here, followed by a quite astounding rally at Doncaster where records tumbled across the board. This catalogue, which doesn't always benefit from...