Wootton Bassett (GB)

Directly after the Eclipse, Aidan O'Brien was enjoying another notable success in his native Ireland as the 2-year-old colt Daytona (Wootton Bassett) captured the inaugural Listed Irish EBF Pat Smullen Stakes at Naas. Sent off the 4-5 favourite for the mile contest, the Gowran Park debut winner moved to market-rival North Coast (Starman) approaching the final furlong and soon had the race wrapped up. At the line, the Wayne Lordan-ridden 500,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 graduate had 3 1/4-lengths to spare over that Joseph O'Brien trainee as Ballydoyle collected another...

When it comes to Sandown's G1 Coral-Eclipse, there has been a shift of power to the Classic generation in recent times with seven of the last ten going their way. Saturday's renewal will either see a fifth consecutive success for the 3-year-olds or a break in the sequence and the onus is on Ombudsman to reestablish the reputation of the older horses. Godolphin's son of Night Of Thunder is the key protagonist on his emphatic Prince of Wales's Stakes success last month and to date has no blemish on his...

As if Saturday's action at The Curragh hadn't already championed Cooomore's stratospheric Wootton Bassett, along came Whirl to hammer home the point in a thrilling renewal of the feature G1 Pretty Polly Stakes. Outgunning Juddmonte's accomplished Kalpana (Study Of Man) following a prolonged tussle between the elite mastercraftsmen Ryan Moore and Colin Keane, Ballydoyle's Oaks runner-up followed on where the stable's Dorset and Beautify had led earlier in the afternoon. Reminding the world that he remains a racing fan, Aidan O'Brien was quick to pay tribute to the actors involved...

Making it a quickfire double on The Curragh's Saturday card for the lethal combination of Aidan O'Brien, Ryan Moore and Wootton Bassett, Beautify ended the unbeaten run of Lady Iman (Starman) in a demanding renewal of the G2 Airlie Stud Stakes. "Ryan was very impressed. He said he'd love to go up to seven with her, that's a very good sign when you hear him talking like that," the Ballydoyle handler said. "Obviously she's a Moyglare-type filly when Ryan says that, but obviously gets six very strong and travelled very...

Such is the record of The Curragh's Barronstown Stud Maiden, it is a given that Aidan O'Brien reserves one of his best for the seven-furlong contest and Dorset lived up to the billing to become Wootton Bassett's latest TDN Rising Star. "He's a lovely straighforward horse who will get further," commented O'Brien, who had won this race with City Of Troy, Rip Van Winkle, Gleneagles, Roderic O'Connor, Duke Of Marmalade, Horatio Nelson and Australia. "Ryan gave him an uncomplicated ride and he's a good mover who could go for any of those races--the...

2nd-Curragh, €20,000, Mdn, 6-27, 2yo, 7fT, 1:26.43, gd. COMPOSING (IRE) (f, 2, Wootton Bassett {GB}--Epona Plays {Ire} {MGSW-Ire, $208,285}, by Australia {GB}), the subject of support into 3-1 second favouritism, was up in the front line from the outset in this maiden won 12 months ago by stablemate Lake Victoria. Pressed by Cape Sounion (No Nay Never) inside the final two furlongs, the first foal out of the Group 2-winning dam stayed on to score by 3/4 of a length. "She's a filly that will get further, she's uncomplicated," Aidan...

Coolmore's Derby hero Lambourn (Australia) will renew rivalry with Epsom second and third, Lazy Griff (Protectionist) and Tennessee Stud (Wootton Bassett), and heads a field of 10 declared runners for Sunday's €1.25-million G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby. He is one of five contenders set to represent Aidan O'Brien and has been allocated stall five. Lazy Griff is alongside in four while Tennessee Stud is on the wing in stall 10. The Ralph Beckett-conditioned G2 Dante Stakes winner Pride Of Arras (New Bay) is the only other Epsom runner backing...

Providing owner-breeder Fiona Carmichael with the ultimate thrill on Wednesday, Carmers put another feather in Wootton Bassett's cap by breaking the 14-furlong track record in Royal Ascot's G2 Queen's Vase. Becoming the first to dip under three minutes here, the unbeaten Paddy Twomey-trained Listed Yeats Stakes winner recorded a 3/4-of-a-length success from Furthur (Waldgeist), with a head back to Rahiebb (Frankel) in third. "I knew he would stay and I knew turning in that Billy looked comfortable," Twomey said after greeting his breakthrough first Royal Ascot winner. "When the bell...

Fast but not quite fast enough for six furlongs, Maranoa Charlie (Wootton Bassett) was back in his comfort zone on Sunday and back in the winner's enclosure at the end of ParisLongchamp's G3 Prix Paul de Moussac. Let loose from the outset of the seven-furlong G1 Prix Jean Prat prep by Aurelien Lemaitre, the 19-10 favourite who was fourth in Chantilly's G3 Prix Texanita speed test last month relished the opportunity to dominate from an early point. Chased to the line by the Wertheimers' Silius (Dubawi) as he had been...

Marc Chan's homebred G2 Golden Fleece Stakes winner Green Impact (Wootton Bassett), who defeated G1 Derby favourite Delacroix twice last year, went postward for Thursday evening's Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF Glencairn Stakes at Leopardstown returning off a G1 2000 Guineas sixth and bounced back in style to claim a second black-type success in the nine-furlong contest. The 11-8 favourite asserted for an early advantage and set an even tempo through halfway. Holding sway throughout, he was driven to subdue TDN Rising Star Azada (Siyouni) approaching the final furlong and...

A seemingly wide-open renewal of Chantilly's G1 Qatar Prix du Jockey Club ultimately produced the most straightforward outcome as Ballydoyle's Camille Pissarro prevailed as the 12-5 favourite. Drawn against the rail, one of the stable's abundance of Wootton Bassett colts only had to follow the pace aided by the yard's Trinity College taking the shortest route. Ryan Moore's only complication came in the closing stages as he needed to thread the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner through a gap no more than a horse's width but he had all the...

Declarations for Sunday's €1.5m G1 Qatar Prix du Jockey Club were confirmed Thursday morning and G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains third Camille Pissarro (Wootton Bassett) will head a field of 18 for the 10 1/2-furlong Chantilly Classic. Last term's G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere hero has been allocated stall one and is joined by Aidan O'Brien-trained stablemate and fellow TDN Rising Star Trinity College (Dubawi), who is drawn in stall three. O'Brien's lone victory in the race was provided by St Mark's Basilica (Siyouni), who departed from stall two en route...