Robson Aguiar

Natalia Lupini has confirmed that stable star Kitty Rose (GB) (Invincible Army {Ire}) has been sold to owner Tim Porter but will remain in the care of the County Down-based trainer until after the Qipco 1,000 Guineas at least. Porter's colours were carried in Ireland last season aboard the Joseph O'Brien-trained Honey Girl (GB) (Mayson {GB}). It is understood that Kitty Rose, who won the Listed Ingabelle S. at the Irish Champions Festival before finishing second in a Group 3, will continue her career in Australia later this summer. Before...

Out from the cloudy backdrop on a morning borrowed from winter comes a sight so good that it serves to remind that spring has in fact sprung and the Flat season is not as far away as it seems.  There is Group 1 winner Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) leading Derby entrants Mr Hampstead (Galileo {Ire}) and Padesha (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}). And who's that lobbing along in behind? Potential Dubai World Cup runner Elegant Man (Arrogate) and Qipco Champion S. hero King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) add...

When Michelangelo sculpted David, you'd imagine he took the time to stand back, blow the dust off of his brow and marvel at his masterpiece, wouldn't you? Like David, Tally-Ho Stud has taken years of hard chiseling but you must be living in Lalaland if you think Tony O'Callaghan is a man for slowing down and taking in all that has been achieved.  If there's one thing O'Callaghan hates more than arrogance it's idleness. With 200 mares on the farm, considerably more yearlings and foals coming through the system, a...

ARCADIA, USA -- We may be biased over here in the European edition, but for the turfistes out there, the race of this weekend is the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf. Primarily there's the scintillating prospect of a rematch between the first two home in the Derby, Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who between them have picked off the Irish Derby, Irish Champion S., King Edward VII S., and Champion S. since Epsom.  To that duo we can add the top-rated horse...

ARCADIA, USA--Against the most stunning backdrop in world racing, just as the pre-dawn sky started to pinken with promise, a metaphorical dark cloud was cast across Santa Anita racetrack. Practical Move (Practical Joke), a leading contender for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack on his way back in from exercise in front of onlookers on the apron. The screens arrived eventually, but not soon enough to remind those present of the occasionally desperate nature of the sport we love, and how such a...

It has been a year to remember for Robson Aguiar, largely down to the exploits of Amo Racing's breakthrough Group 1 winner Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who he sourced for Kia Joorabchian's ownership vehicle.  The ultra-shrewd Brazilian native snapped up a colt by Wooded (Ire), who is a brother to Amo's Phoenix S. hero, for €88,000 on day two of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale and revealed afterwards that the plan was to go breezing for his new recruit.  "I bought him for myself and he will...

King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) heads the 13 still standing for Saturday's Royal Bahrain Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown on a weekend where the colt's owners Amo Racing could bid for a Group 1 double with Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) on course for the Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S on Sunday.  Trained by Roger Varian, King Of Steel heads the betting for the Irish Champions Stakes, the showpiece event of the rebranded Irish Champions Festival, and connections of the colt are predicting a bold display.  "It's a...

Widely considered one of the shrewdest judges of equine talent on an international scale, Robson Aguiar has described Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB) as the best horse he has ever ridden and predicted the colt would be very hard to beat in Saturday's G1 Phoenix S. at the Curragh. It was Aguiar who first spotted the potential in the Adrian Murray-trained Bucanero Fuerte as a yearling last year and went to €165,000 to secure the colt from Etreham at the August Sale at Arqana.  Victory in the first juvenile...

Amo Racing's 'TDN Rising Star' Persian Dreamer (Calyx {GB}--Surprisingly {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}), fresh off a fourth-place finish in last month's G3 Albany S. at Royal Ascot, upset the odds with an impressive display for a career high in Friday's G2 Duchess Of Cambridge S. over Newmarket's six-furlong strip. She was restrained in rear after an alert break and inched forward into a handy third before halfway. Nudged along passing the quarter-mile marker, the 5-1 second choice quickened in style to launch her bid entering the final furlong and kept...

Amo Racing's €350,000 Arqana August Select graduate Hello You (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) had failed to scale the podium in two starts since joining the David Loughnane yard, but made amends and then some with a battling victory in Friday's G2 Unibet Rockfel S. at Newmarket. The March-foaled bay, who had posted a May 24 6 1/2-length tally on debut at Wolverhampton, hit the board in both G3 Albany S. and G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. when under the care of Ralph Beckett. She raced too keenly in a first-time...

NEWMARKET, UK—In the words of one of many satisfied consignors here on Tuesday, this is a sale "going places". That was literally the case, of course, when the embryonic version first staged at Ascot only in 2017 was last year transferred to Park Paddocks as an expedient of the pandemic. But it's an ill wind that blows no good, and the market adapted so healthily to its sanctuary that it was decided to keep it there. Rebranded as the Somerville Yearling Sale, and deriving many logistical and psychological benefits from...

Having broken the all-aged track record on debut at Yarmouth June 3, The Lir Jet (GB) was a temptation that Qatar Racing couldn't resist and the operation's acquisition proved on the money as he emulated the 2009 G2 Norfolk S. success of his first-season sire Prince of Lir (Ire) on Friday. Registering the breakthrough first win for that freshman on fast ground at the East Anglian venue, the 9-2 shot had easier conditions to deal with here and also a trailblazing Wesley Ward runner as Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) powered...