Tag Archive for: Ryan Moore

Christophe Soumillon in line for Ballydoyle rides with Ryan Moore injured

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Aidan O’Brien will turn to Christophe Soumillon to help fill some of the Ballydoyle riding plans as stable jockey Ryan Moore continues his recovery from a leg injury.

The trainer announced on Saturday that Moore will be sidelined for an indefinite period of time after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his femur.

Wayne Lordan is the yard’s second rider, but he is currently due to be suspended for 10 days after the Goodwood stewards found him to have used his whip in the incorrect place aboard Prestige Stakes winner Precise.

Lordan has lodged an appeal against that ban, which runs from September 9-18, but with the St Leger meeting at Doncaster and the Irish Champions Festival both taking place next week, O’Brien would still be in need of multiple big-race riders as Delacroix is due to run in the Irish Champion Stakes while Scandinavia is a short-priced Leger favourite.

Asked how plans will change given the news of Moore’s injury, O’Brien said: “Wayne is having his appeal this week and obviously Christophe has ridden a lot for us through the year, all those things are changing at the moment.

“I don’t know how long Ryan is going to be but we will tell him to take as much time as he wants.”

O’Brien has often turned to Soumillon, who was previously retained by the late Aga Khan, for his French runners, with the rider partnering Diego Velazquez to win last month’s Prix Jacques le Marois while he also rode two Group One winners for the team on Arc weekend last year.

The trainer added: “Christophe has always been (part of the plans). He’s not tied down to anybody now.

“He’s a world-class jockey everywhere, he’s been riding for us a lot since he’s been released.”

Monday Musings: The Ups and (Kentucky) Downs of Racing

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One of the enduring funniest moments in all of racing to my mind was the time when jockey Adam Beschizza was called into a stewards’ inquiry at Newmarket, writes Tony Stafford. Not one of the “faces” among the jockeys at the time, the lead in the stewarding panel asked him his name. “Beschizza”, he replied, omitting to add the requisite, “sir” after the name. The steward continued, “Well, Mr Biscuit.”

I doubt he has had a similar episode in the now eight years he has been riding in the United States. He left in 2017 when he rode 39 winners – his joint-best tally – all his mounts earning £266,382.

On Saturday evening at Kentucky Downs, riding the two-year-old newcomer Ground Support in a maiden special weight race, he came home in front. As the horses passed the post, 40/1 jumped up on the Sky Sports Racing screen. The starting price in the Racing Post on Sunday morning was 101/1.

Normally you might expect a lesser disparity, and more often the other way around. It ended a notable day for Adam’s family. His aunt and cousin, Julia and Shelley Birkett - Julia formerly trained as Feilden, her maiden name, until joining forces with her daughter earlier this year – had a great evening themselves nearer home at Chelmsford.

From three runners, Sam’s Express (16/5) and Rusheen Boy (9/2) both won, while their middle runner Mrs Meader, a soft-ground specialist forced to run on AW but declared overpriced by her trainers, was second at 40/1. If she had come in first, the 1,025/1 hat-trick would truly have taken the biscuit.

Enough of contrived intros and now we must mention the shock news that Ryan Moore, said by Aidan O’Brien to have been riding with a broken leg for the last two months, is likely to miss the rest of the season.

Additionally, Ballydoyle and its Coolmore paymasters will also have to accept the absence of their highly effective number two Wayne Lordan for a while. He collected a ten-day riding ban at Goodwood last Sunday, a sanction which he is aiming to overturn. If he fails, the big Irish Champions weekend will have to go on without him, as will the St Leger, a race the stable has won eight times including the last twice.

Aidan O’Brien’s span has been from 2001, the first of them being Milan. That was the year when Michael Tabor, Jeremy Noseda and I watched on for hours in the lunchroom of our hotel in Lexington, Kentucky as the scenes from the bombing of the twin towers in New York earlier that day made such an impact on the world.

We were all there for Keeneland sales, the first day of which had to be postponed for 24 hours. With travel plans disrupted, Tabor’s plane home was very much in demand from UK trainers and others, and I just missed the cut on the Friday, I think, so missed getting back in time for the big race. John Magnier, of course, got out a day earlier!

Aidan’s speed of acquisition of England’s oldest Classic is impressive, but he needs to up the ante in both numerical and time terms as 19th Century trainer John Scott won the races 16 times in a 35-year span from 1827-1862, a record they said at the time, “would never be beaten!” You never know with the master of Ballydoyle.

No doubt jockey agents will be on the lookout for possible rides for their employers, with the top squadron like Oisin Murphy, William Buick and Tom Marquand offering obvious attraction. At home Aidan has been giving plenty of rides to the 5lb claimer Jack Cleary.

He had a mount yesterday at Tipperary but Lordan, whose ban is yet to kick in, was in the saddle for the stable’s three remaining runners, in a maiden, a Group 3 and a Listed contest.

Such a blow for Ryan Moore comes at a most inconvenient time of the year when so many massive prizes are available around the world, and the O’Brien stable is often represented in them. Fortunately, the 41-year-old has built up a nice cushion over the years as he has deservedly earnt the accolade as the best jockey in the world, and not just from professionals in the UK and Ireland either.

If losing their main jockey for a lengthy spell was a blow for Coolmore, their long-term major rivals Godolphin suffered an even more devastating setback last week. Ruling Court, the winner of the 2,000 Guineas this spring, has had to be put down due to laminitis, a serious and often incurable foot condition.

A son of Justify, the US Triple Crown winner and already a prolific sire on both sides of the Atlantic, Ruling Court held off Field Of Gold in the Newmarket Classic, a race that cost Kieran Shoemark, the runner-up’s rider, his job with the Gosden stable.

Third on his next run behind Field Of Gold in the St James’s Palace Stakes at the Royal meeting, he ran what was to be his swansong with another solid third place behind Delacroix and Ombudsman in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown in early July.

He would have been an obvious potential successor to the ageing but still firing Dubawi at Darley Stud where he would have commanded a substantial fee for his first season as a stallion in 2026.

Many of Godolphin’s finest days were achieved with Frankie Dettori in the saddle and the former champion, now residing with much material and emotional satisfaction in the US, teamed up with three UK-based trainers to collect some of the even more substantial prizemoney at Kentucky Downs, scene of Adam Beschizza’s earlier score. Adam’s race was worth $101,000 to the winner, so would have been equivalent to three months’ activity for him back here in 2017 for just over a minute’s work!

Dettori was operating at a far higher end of the scale, teaming up with James Owen on the Gredley family’s Wimbledon Hawkeye, whose form this year ties in with Ruling Court, to whom he was fifth in the 2,000 Guineas. He has been toiling all season, usually getting close to the better three-year-old milers and middle-distance horses.

Last time out before Saturday, Wimbledon Hawkeye was nosed out by the rapidly improving William Haggas horse Merchant in the Gordon Stakes over a mile and a half at Goodwood. That run alone was enough to send him off the favourite for a 10.5-furlong Grade 3 race that carried only around 20 grand less than the Derby to the winner and was called the DK Horse Nashville Derby Invitation Stakes.

Dettori’s day was sublime with a third place for Charlie Hills in a Grade 2 and fourth for Hugo Palmer in a second Grade 3. Kentucky Downs has been a track that from modest beginnings has rapidly become an entity with high prizemoney. James Owen mused that more UK trainers should be targeting the races there as the course is all grass with no US dirt to be seen. Why this emerging training talent in which Bill, son Tim and the rest of the family operation have put so much faith, should want to advertise the track’s splendours, I can only shake my head in wonder.

Next year though, for this fixture, the top stables will be chartering the planes and no doubt the evergreen Mr Dettori will be happy to offer his skills. Tim Gredley goes back a long way with Dettori and says at one time they lived next door to each other. They have both had exciting lives to say the least since then, with Tim enjoying great success as a show jumper and point-to-point rider until taking charge of his nonagenarian father’s racing interests.

And of Frankie, what more is there to say? Well, how about that he rode a 2391/1 four-timer at the same track last night!

- TS

Injury means Ryan Moore could miss the rest of the season

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Ryan Moore may miss the rest of the Flat season with a stress fracture to his femur.

Moore was booked to ride at the Curragh on Saturday, but was taken off all his mounts by midday.

Moore is retained jockey for Aidan O’Brien’s powerful Ballydoyle yard, with the Coolmore operation now facing the prospect of being without one of the world’s best jockeys for the business end of the campaign, with countless big races on the horizon.

Aidan O'Brien with Ryan Moore
Aidan O’Brien with Ryan Moore (Niall Carson/PA)

O’Brien said: “Ryan is good, he was having plenty of trouble with his right leg since Irish Derby weekend.

“They were doing everything to it to try to get it right, but they couldn’t get it right so he went for scans and an X-ray on it yesterday. He has a fracture in his femur.

“Since the Irish Derby weekend he’s been struggling with it, but he’s been doing his best with it.

“When they found a stress fracture in his femur that was the answer. There is only one thing that is going to fix it and that’s time.”

When asked if he expected him to ride again this season, O’Brien said: “He’d be very lucky, I’d say.

Ryan Moore with Queen Camilla at York earlier this month
Ryan Moore with Queen Camilla at York earlier this month (Ian Forsyth/PA)

“We’ve plenty of jockeys and the lads are all there, Wayne (Lordan) is gone (suspended) for Irish Champions Festival at the moment, but all the usual people, yhey’re all there, so everyone will row in.”

He went on: “Ryan runs a lot and they think it could be running and that might have originally started it. Then in Germany, when he was going to the start on the filly (Garden Of Eden at Dusseldorf) she whipped around and he landed on his feet and it could have aggravated it and opened it up.

“They have been treating him for a lot of different stuff, the back of his knee and they thought he had burst something at the back of his heel, and they thought it might be ligaments and all this different stuff.

“It was only when he got whatever kind of a scan he had yesterday that they realised he had a fracture to his femur, so that was that.

“In all fairness to him, he’s been riding for probably two months with a fracture to his femur. Talk about concrete, that man is concrete. But with a little bit of time, he’ll be back.”

Frescobaldi helps Ryan Moore reach century of York winners

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Ryan Moore secured his 100th winner at York aboard Frescobaldi in the British Stallion Studs EBF Convivial Maiden Stakes.

It has not been the week many expected for Moore, with dual Derby hero Lambourn and Eclipse winner Delacroix both suffering defeat.

However, he did steer the Richard Hughes-trained Star Of Mehmas to a lucrative handicap success on Wednesday and having made it 99 course winners when getting back in the Group One-winning groove on Minnie Hauk in Thursday’s Yorkshire Oaks, he reached the landmark on Friday.

Frescobaldi, fifth at the Curragh and second at Fairyhouse on his two previous starts for Aidan O’Brien, was sent off at 100-30 to make it third time lucky in what is traditionally one of the strongest maidens of the season, with a total prize fund of £100,000 up for grabs.

Always to the fore, Frescobaldi was coaxed to the front approaching the final furlong and knuckled down well for pressure to see off the challenge of promising newcomer Spyce by three-quarters of a length.

On reaching his century on the Knavesmire, Moore said: “I’ve always enjoyed riding at York, it’s a great racecourse and hopefully we can keep coming back here.”

Beckett pair share Oak Tree honours at Goodwood

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Stable companions Saqqara Sands and Tabiti shared the honours after the judge announced a dead-heat following a thrilling renewal of the HKJC World Pool Oak Tree Stakes at Goodwood.

Tabiti was among the leading contenders for the Group Three contest at 9-2 and with blinkers applied for a second time, the three-year-old set out to make all the running in the hands of Ryan Moore.

Saqqara Sands, a much bigger price at 16-1 under Rossa Ryan, emerged from the pack as the biggest threat inside the final furlong and while she briefly managed to poke her head in front, Tabiti battled back and the Ralph Beckett-trained pair passed the post as one.

Bright Thunder, the 7-2 favourite, was only half a length further behind in third.

Ralph Beckett with his winning fillies Saqqara Sands and Tabiti
Ralph Beckett with his winning fillies Saqqara Sands and Tabiti (PA)

Beckett said: “I’ve definitely never done that before. They are two really tough fillies. This race can be a bit of a bun fight, I recall Roger’s (Varian) filly (Jabaara) being taken down last year (demoted to second from first place).

“Saqqara Sands worked very well at the weekend and I thought she was over priced, while it looked like Tabiti had gone west on us after the Fillies’ Mile.

“The mile is probably OK for Tabiti, but I’m not sure the other filly wants it. I’ve yet to work out their trips but hey, it’s been an enjoyable day.”

Ryan, who saw his big Tuesday hope Kinross withdrawn at the start before the Lennox Stakes, said: “That was mad. I just couldn’t quite get past Tabiti. I thought I’d win but my head was up and his was down.

“She stayed battling all the way to the line and it’s good to get in the scoresheet after a disastrous day yesterday.

“My filly is improving. She’s going the right way and I think better on better ground.”

Bright Thunder’s trainer Karl Burke was satisfied with third place and will keep an eye on conditions now as he seeks the next target.

He said: “I’m as happy with that as you can be without winning.

“She’s run a great race and looked like bolting up two out, but Ryan (Moore on Tabiti) got a freebie in front. If they’d gone really hard or she’d had a bit of a better draw, I think she’d have been bang there.

“She’s a progressive filly but she likes a bit of cut in the ground so August might be tricky, but hopefully we’ll find a nice race for her in the autumn.”

True Love powers home for Railway Stakes demolition

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Royal Ascot heroine True Love showed her male counterparts the way home with a scintillating display in the GAIN Railway Stakes at the Curragh.

Aidan O’Brien had saddled 14 previous winners of the Group Two contest, with Rock Of Gibraltar (2001), George Washington (2005) and last year’s victor Henri Matisse (2024) among them, and it was significant his chief hope this time around was the sole filly in a field of four.

Having filled the runner-up spot on her first two starts, True Love (1-2 favourite) was an impressive winner of the Queen Mary Stakes and followed up in fine style, travelling strongly under Ryan Moore before quickening five lengths clear of stable Puerto Rico with the minimum of fuss.

O’Brien said: “Obviously she’s fast so we weren’t sure she’d get six (furlongs). I suppose we were finding out a little bit about her really.

“She was a Queen Mary winner so it was very hard for Ryan not to ride her. We couldn’t be happier with her really.

“Obviously the Phoenix Stakes would be there for her as well as the Prix Morny and the Cheveley Park. It was a Group Two today and she’d be ready for one of those Group Ones now.”

Coolmore supremo John Magnier was making a rare appearance on track and said: “She’s a good individual and she’s very well bred, it’s the Galileo family.

True Love after winning the Railway Stakes at the Curragh
True Love after winning the Railway Stakes at the Curragh (Gary Carson/PA)

“Somebody told me that this is the first time in 30 years that a filly has won this race.

“There is a real pedigree there and a pedigree like that is like a road map, anything can happen.”

When asked whether he felt True Love could be a contender for next year’s 1000 Guineas, for which she was cut to 16-1 from 25-1 by Paddy Power, Magnier added: “Fingers crossed. It’s no mean feat to win the Queen Mary, either.

“The old breeders used to really think a lot of that race, it started a lot of families.”

Monday Musings: A Star Is Born

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A star is born. That’s right, another from that dastardly Aidan O’Brien nursery, especially if your name is Gosden anyway, writes Tony Stafford. I noticed John, the elder of that father-son combine, bravely smiling straight after his hotpot Ombudsman had been mugged close to home by Ryan Moore and Delacroix in the 50th edition of the Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park on Saturday.

Coral had done a splendid promo job, obliterating the previous 90 years’ existence of a race that has always been the province of Classic-standard horses. You wouldn’t get Doncaster, for example, minimising the St Leger’s two centuries’ plus existence for the minor detail of this year’s sponsor.

The racecard on Saturday listed previous winners, from Wollow in 1976 to City Of Troy last year, and that caused me to a momentary – “he wasn’t”.

Surely Wollow I thought was earlier than that, but no of course it was Wollow’s sire, Wolver Hollow, both colts trained by Henry Cecil, that had won the race in 1969. The 1976 champion, Italian-owned, was ridden by Frankie’s father, Gianfranco.

As me and my friend Dick McGinn, who sadly died of cancer a few years ago in Australia after emigrating there, waited at home to see the superb mare Park Top we thought would win that 1969 race, when along came Wolver Hollow and Lester Piggott to give the future Sir Henry his first big win. It was also my final losing bet as a single man – at that stage!

Everyone, including my parents, were already in place as best man Dick and I quickly left the house and sprinted down to St John-at-Hackney Church for my wedding. On arrival, as he searched his pockets for the ring, we learnt that the bridal car was on its third circuit! Sorry dear, better late than never!

I got rather excited last week about a ride in a handicap chase at Uttoxeter. Many were equally enthralled by Ryan Moore’s performance on Delacroix, whose chance coming to the furlong pole looked so remote that one exchange punter managed to secure £2 at 330/1!

But the last furlong at Sandown can seem almost as far as not-yet-forgotten Towcester where a ten-length lead over the last fence wouldn’t guarantee success up its Himalaya-like gradient. Sandown isn’t so steep, but when they’ve gone a solid pace and set out for home early enough, as William Buick did on impressive Royal Ascot winner Ombudsman, that can often be a recipe for disappointment.

While not disagreeing with the general view of Ryan’s latest Group 1 masterclass, he did have a more than willing ally in Delacroix. Neither jockey nor trainer seemed to have expected the sudden burst of speed he unleashed from 150 yards out, when coming from last in what seemed like a flash.

He certainly did flash home, passing all five opponents, including Classic winners Ruling Court (Charlie Appleby, 2,000 Guineas), and his stablemate Camille Pissarro (Prix du Jockey Club) in that final half-furlong. His display in the winner’s enclosure when he promised either to trample or squeeze into the rails anyone silly enough to get on the smaller than usual line in the winner’s photo, suggested he had the energy to have gone round again.

Reduced to an onlooker in the Derby after a troubled run as the race panned into another O’Brien/Coolmore colt in Lambourn’s favour - and that horse lost nothing in reputation by following up at the Curragh – now the more lucrative ten-furlong route for a future stallion is wide open for Delacroix.

The Gosdens and their other big owning connection, Juddmonte, could have taken Irish Guineas and superb St James’s Palace winner Field Of Gold to the Sandown race, but that superb grey colt is firmly on target and odds-on for the Sussex Stakes next month at Goodwood.

Then it will be off to York for the Juddmonte should all go to plan close to the Solent and another of those long sponsorships, at York, where the Juddmonte International will have a massive place in their affections. Watch out, that’s where they will undoubtedly be encountering Delacroix.

Who knows? Just a year on from City Of Troy’s disappointing showing in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, by November time, Delacroix might have forced his way into earning a similar challenge and finally win the race for O’Brien. It’s 25 years if you can believe it since the Iron Horse, Aidan’s 2000 Coral-Eclipse winner Giant’s Causeway, agonisingly failed by only a neck to hold off Tiznow at Churchill Downs.

These days, the old “keeping themselves to their own” breeding policy between Coolmore and Godolphin is no more. According to my chosen source of record, Delacroix is one of ten produce of Godolphin’s prime stallion Dubawi among the Ballydoyle three-year-old division and there are also 13 juveniles. His dam is the champion international miler Tepin, making him a fantastic out cross for all those Galileo mares.

Delacroix’s success will make this autumn’s auctions for his yearlings even more a competition between the two prime powers in racing, although of course Godolphin has all the home-breds of Dubawi it wants.

To counterbalance that, Coolmore’s star, the 300k a pop Wootton Bassett has five representatives among Charlie Appleby’s team of juveniles, but none of the Classic generation. The former French-based sire hadn’t yet announced his true talent before switching to Ireland for the 2022 breeding season.

Meanwhile, the principal Godolphin buying team of Anthony Stroud and David Loder will equally be scanning the sales to see which of the Wootton Bassetts is to be targeted. Loder, I heard from Charlie Appleby on Saturday, has had some successful surgery on his eyes and he’ll be seeing them coming, according to Charlie, from a mile off!

Sandown otherwise had a nice, varied programme backing up the big race and it was only by a neck that William Knight’s nine-year-old Sir Busker failed to match Delacroix’s last to first effort with a flying second at 22/1 in the finale. In his case there were seven horses to pass from last place a furlong from home, but as Brandon Wilkie brought him wide with that rattling finish, they were just foiled by the James Tate-trained Flying Frontier, whose trainer was quizzed afterwards.

Stewards habitually want to know why horses run better than expected, perform worse than expected or are beaten favourites. That’s racing, gents or ladies. I know that Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds’ syndicate owners of Sir Busker have had seven wins including at Royal Ascot, from 58 runs and 660k in earnings.

His later career was hampered by a freak injury when turf flicked up into an eye at Meydan but he came back as bravely as ever and can be a force in these handicaps for a while longer. I would hope the handicapper refrains from raising his mark above 100 once more, but sentiment isn’t much part of their make-up.

Dubawi is also the sire of another of Saturday’s winners, the Richard Hannon-trained Classic, running in the colours of Mrs Julie Wood. He won a £63k handicap in great style earlier on the card, making all under Sean Levey.

Mrs Wood normally recruits her horses in foal sales, but made an exception with Classic, sold as a yearling by Newsells Park Stud for 260,000gns, a price she would never expect to pay for a foal. On the way he won on Saturday there will be much more to come from him.

- TS

Delacroix denies Ombudsman in Eclipse thriller

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Delacroix came from last to first under a vintage Ryan Moore ride to provide Aidan O’Brien with his ninth victory in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.

A quality field of six runners went to post for a Group One contest that traditionally gives the Classic generation a first chance to meet their elders and this year’s renewal was no exception, with four three-year-olds taking on two top-class older horses in Ombudsman and Sosie.

Ombudsman was the 6-4 favourite to supplement his brilliant success in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and quickened up to lead inside the final furlong – but having looked to be struggling at the rear of the field early in the straight, Derby disappointment Delacroix (3-1) came with a wet sail under a power-packed Moore drive to get up by a neck.

“It wasn’t the first or the second or the third plan! He began OK, but nobody really wanted to make the running and there was three of us in a line,” Moore told ITV Racing.

“Me and William (Buick, on Ombudsman) wanted the same position and I had to give way. He was on an older, bigger horse so I thought we’d wait and go around.

“They got first run on me and he’s obviously a very good horse with a good turn of foot. He quickened up really well.

“I think 10 furlongs is fine and if anything he could probably run over shorter. He’s a horse we’ve always held in high regard and he was the only horse in this race that hadn’t won a Group One, but he’d threatened to and he’s obviously out of a great racemare (Tepin) and by Dubawi.”

Delacroix returns to the winner's enclosure
Delacroix returns to the winner’s enclosure (Molly Hunter/PA)

O’Brien said: “Incredible, I thought Ryan was going to make the running on him. Obviously you don’t tell Ryan what to do, but you listen to what he’s saying, so when I saw it all changing I didn’t know what would happen or what to make of it.

“He ended up where he did and it just kept ringing in my mind that during the week Ryan said to me ‘Aidan, I think this horse is a miler’, and I always thought he was a mile-and-a-quarter horse.

“As the race went on that was what was ringing in my head, is he a miler or is he a mile-and-a-quarter horse, but obviously Ryan stuck to his judgement because he kept calm and had one go.

“What he did in the last two furlongs looked very different. It was a very good race, the second horse is a very good horse and when you get a four-year-old rated as high as that, you need a three-year-old that’s a bit different to beat them.

“Ryan said he changed plans four times in the race today. He found himself where he was but he was calm and collected and clinical.”

Paddy Power cut Delacroix’s odds for the Juddmonte International at York to 5-1 from 16-1, with Ombudsman a 4-1 shot and Field Of Gold the 5-4 favourite.

While plans for Delacroix remain up in the air, he looks set to either stick to a mile and a quarter or even drop back in trip.

“He’s hardy so you shouldn’t be afraid to race him, but the lads (owners) will decide what they want to do,” O’Brien added.

“They stacked them up in front today and he came with a deadly run, it was incredible what he did – mind-blowing.

“I don’t think going back to a mile would worry him, but if they decide to keep him at a mile and a quarter I would be delighted.

“When you can relax like that and quicken like that over a mile and a quarter, it’s very potent and a brilliant thing to have up your sleeve.”

O’Brien: Not out of the question Moore opts for Delacroix in the Eclipse

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Aidan O’Brien has kept the door open for Ryan Moore to ride Delacroix in the Coral-Eclipse, as he confirmed both the beaten Derby favourite and winner of the French equivalent, Camille Pissarro, would head to Sandown on Saturday.

Camille Pissarro is slightly shorter than his stablemate in the sponsor’s betting, with Coral going 13-2 about the Chantilly Classic winner and 8-1 Delacroix, who will bid to bounce back from Epsom disappointment.

Speaking at Tipperary on Wednesday evening, O’Brien suggested the Ballydoyle number one was yet to make the final call on who he will ride: “We are declaring in the morning, and it looks like Delacroix and Camille Pissarro are going to go. That’s what the lads are thinking.

Aidan O'Brien with Ryan Moore and Coolmore boss John Magnier
Aidan O’Brien with Ryan Moore and Coolmore boss John Magnier (Brian Lawless/PA)

“It is not written in stone, but there is a chance Ryan could ride Delacroix, we’ll see.”

O’Brien also provided updates on dual Derby hero Lambourn and Pretty Polly scorer Whirl after both excelled in the feature events at the Curragh last weekend.

Options remain fluid for Lambourn, who could set out on a path to add to his Classic haul at Doncaster in September, or take on his elders in Ascot’s King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Meanwhile, Oaks heroine Minnie Hauk could be left to replicate Lambourn by following up Epsom victory at the Curragh, meaning Whirl remains at 10 furlongs for the Nassau Stakes during the Qatar Goodwood Festival.

Lambourn added the Irish Derby at the Curragh to his CV on Sunday
Lambourn added the Irish Derby at the Curragh to his CV on Sunday (Brian Lawless/PA)

“Lambourn hasn’t done anything since Sunday and probably won’t for seven to 10 days,” continued O’Brien.

“His options are to be trained for the King George or have a little rest and maybe go for a Voltigeur and a St Leger, but we’ll see what the lads want to do. He’s a hardy customer, a brave horse.

“We are thinking of the Nassau for Whirl and she’s a hardy lady too. She could go there, and Minnie Hauk will be trained for the Irish Oaks.

“(Ribblesdale Stakes winner) Garden Of Eden could also be trained for the Irish Oaks.”

Trawlerman triumph highlights fruitful Royal Ascot for Gosden team

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Trawlerman’s Gold Cup win capped a magical week for John and Thady Gosden, who edged out Aidan O’Brien to top the trainers’ standings at Royal Ascot.

Field Of Gold and Ombudsman had already produced sublime performances in the St James’s Palace Stakes and Prince of Wales’s Stakes respectively during the first two days of the Royal meeting, but the elusive Gold Cup victory for the Clarehaven team’s staying stalwart rubber stamped a stellar five days.

Thady Gosden said: “It’s been a terrific week and I think the highlight must be Trawlerman. he’s been in the yard five years, he’s by Golden Horn and he wears his heart on his sleeve.

“He’s the most genuine horse and in his races he will do everything, but when you’re with him in person he is a kind, sweet, gentle soul, and for him to run the race he did having coming second last year – what a fantastic result for the horse and for the sport.”

Trawlerman won Thursday's Gold Cup
Trawlerman won Thursday’s Gold Cup (David Davies/PA)

The Gosden team finished the week with five winners, the same number as O’Brien, but took the prize due to on extra silver medal they picked up through the week.

Gosden Sr has previously won the award twice on his own and praised his son Thady after winning the award for a second time as a training partnership.

John Gosden – who registered his 70th Royal Ascot winner this week – said: “Our week started very strongly with the right races and everyone working at home had the horses spot-on.

“They’ve run very well since, finishing second and third and second and third, and that of course counts towards winning this when you’re at five winners all with Aidan O’Brien.

“Thady has been with me about eight years already – and the rest – so, poor chap, it must be getting a bit annoying!

“But there is nothing like this meeting, it’s our Olympics, and it’s great to win this. Without him I wouldn’t be as on the ball at all. It’s been a great combination.”

Field Of Gold impressed on Tuesday
Field Of Gold impressed on Tuesday (David Davies/PA)

Reflecting on Field Of Gold’s dazzling Group One victory which lit up the opening day of the fixture, Thady Gosden added: “Field Of Gold is a horse who has just improved and improved and improved.

“His sire Kingman was a peerless miler, but he has shown the electric turn of foot his sire had. It was a great race with all three Guineas winners from north-western Europe in the same race. He is very exciting for Juddmonte and for all of us.”

Ballydoyle handler O’Brien may have been thwarted in his quest for a fourth successive leading trainer prize, but his number one jockey Ryan Moore was out on his own as top rider for the 12th time.

He capped yet another fine week in Berkshire with his seventh success of the meeting aboard Willie Mullins’ Sober in the concluding Queen Alexandra Stakes to finish two clear of Oisin Murphy.

Sober won the final race of the meeting for Ryan Moore
Sober won the final race of the meeting for Ryan Moore (John Walton/PA)

Moore said: “It’s great to ride seven winners, Aidan’s horses were in great form all work, when you’re riding for Aidan and Willie you’re going to ride winners.”

Both Coolmore and Wathnan Racing finished the week with five winners, but it was Coolmore who came out on top for the third year running on account of their superior record with placed horses.

Coolmore’s MV Magnier said: “It means a lot to everyone. The guys and everyone put everything into this week, and for Aidan and Ryan to do such a good job, it’s incredible.

“We’re very grateful and we are very lucky to be here. We are very lucky to have the King and Queen present every day this week. It’s a big deal for our business.”

Trinity College has all the answers in Hampton Court Stakes

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Trinity College produced a dominant front-running display in the Hampton Court Stakes to complete a treble on day three of Royal Ascot for Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore.

With the formidable pair having already landed the Norfolk with Charles Darwin and the Ribblesdale with Garden Of Eden, French Derby fourth Trinity College was the 5-2 favourite for his Group Three assignment and dictated at the head of affairs from the start.

Tornado Alert, fourth in the 2000 Guineas and sixth in the Derby, was Trinity College’s nearest pursuer throughout and tried to keep tabs on him in the straight, but the winner found another gear inside the final furlong and was well on top as he passed the post with three and a half lengths in hand.

O’Brien was delighted to see the son of Dubawi get his moment in the spotlight after his fine effort at Chantilly last time and said: “It was a lovely run in the French Derby and Wayne (Lordan) rode him the last day and we were very happy.

“He wasn’t beaten that far and he turned around the form with Detain (third in Chantilly) here.

“Ryan gave him a lovely, uncomplicated ride. He’s a lovely, straightforward horse and his trip is a mile and a quarter.

“We’ve always thought he was a nice horse and he’s only really started to progress now – you would have to be very happy with that.

“I would say 10 furlongs is his trip and he’s very comfortable at that distance because he’s not slow.

“He could go to America and there is an American Derby (at Churchill Downs) he could run in but the problem is it is only in a couple of weeks, so we will have to see how he is, it could be too soon. He’s a good member of the team.”

Trinity College provided Moore with his 90th winner at the Royal meeting, 17 years on from his first at the summer showpiece aboard Sir Michael Stoute’s Colony.

Moore said: “It’s great to get to 90. I’ve rode for great people for a lot of years and a lot of people who put in a lot of hard work and sweat. Obviously having Aidan in my corner is also a massive help.”

Saeed bin Suroor is eager to get Tornado Alert’s head in front next time.

He said: “He ran well to finish sixth in the Derby, and now second in a nice race here is good. He is improving. We will see how he comes out of this, but we will look for a Group Three race.”

Glittering Legend was third for James Fanshawe but the trainer expects the horse to move to a new country now.

He said: “He ran really well. He got a bump early on, which just set him alight a bit, but he dropped his head really well and kept on well.

“Unfortunately, I think he’s off to Hong Kong now, but he’s done really well. I think it will turn out to be a good race.”

Garden Of Eden blossoms in Ribblesdale Stakes

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Garden Of Eden continued her progress to provide trainer Aidan O’Brien with a record sixth victory in the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The Ballydoyle handler saddled three runners in the Group Two contest, with Ryan Moore siding with Garden Of Eden (7-1), who struggled in successive Group races in the spring but raised her game to claim a Listed prize at Naas on her most recent appearance.

Island Hopping was deployed in a pacesetting role, but her early exertions took their toll from the home turn, while Garden Of Eden galloped on powerfully up the straight to score by three and a quarter lengths from Understudy, with 2-1 favourite Catalina Delcarpio back in third.

O’Brien said: “I was impressed with that, I’m delighted. She’s getting better which is great.

“We always thought stepping up in trip would help her and we stepped her up to a mile and a quarter the last day and she improved a lot.

“She’s by Saxon Warrior and when they go up in distance they do get better so she obviously improved for the step up.

“The Irish Oaks would be a possibility, but she could also go to America for a Grade One over there, we will have to see.”

Charles Darwin lives up to his billing in Norfolk Stakes

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Charles Darwin enhanced his already lofty reputation with a dominant front-running victory in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot.

A full-brother to a top-class two-year-old in Blackbeard, the imposing Aidan O’Brien-trained son of No Nay Never finished fourth on his Curragh debut but had since impressed with victories at Navan and Naas.

Those who sent him off at odds of 8-13 will have had few concerns, with Charles Darwin soon bowling along in front under Ryan Moore, finding plenty once challenged and going away at the line to readily account for Wise Approach and Sandal’s Song.

“He’s lovely, Ryan always loved him and everyone always loved him at home,” said O’Brien.

“He’s a big, powerful, strong horse. He really looks like a four-year-old racing against two-year-olds.

“I didn’t know if Ryan was going to make the running or drop him in, but he decides that. He always thought he had loads left with the way he came on the bridle.

“He’s very quick, a big and mature physical and everyone who rides him says he has a very good mind as well – he’s very exciting.

“We were hoping he would get a lead as he never sees the front at home, he’s very strong and very quick.”

On the Ballydoyle pecking order regarding juveniles, O’Brien added: “Albert Einstein is always just something like we’ve never seen before, the way he works.

“This horse is very fast – he’s a sprinter, I don’t know how far he’s going to get, because he’s very quick, and the horse the other day (Gstaad) looks like he’s going to get seven, which means he could get a mile.”

Paddy Power made Charles Darwin 4-1 to become the first two-year-old since Kingsgate Native in 2007 to win York’s Nunthorpe Stakes later in the summer, with O’Brien suggesting connections would have to consider that event if the speedy colt continues to thrive over the minimum trip.

“It would obviously be possible as he’s fast, he’s big and he’s mature,” said O’Brien.

“The lads will decide and it’s obviously really early days to be talking about that yet, but it would be possible.

“He’s obviously a Middle Park Stakes-type of horse and obviously there is the July meeting at Newmarket and Goodwood to come, so there’s plenty of races to come.”

Charlie Appleby was determined to take the positives from Wise Approach’s run in second after he bounced back from defeat at York.

Appleby said: “We felt we were very much drawn on the wrong side, but the main thing about today was setting him up for the future and riding a very different race to what we saw at York. We wanted to drop him in and we didn’t feel there was the strength there to carry us through the race if we rode him handy.

“We made the decision to drop in, ride a race and get him to finish and he’s done all of that, so finishing second to a very high-class racehorse in Charles Darwin, you have to take plenty of positives.

“There’s going to be a nice pot in this horse and I think although he’s versatile enough for five or six furlongs, we can probably look for six now and ride a similar sort of race. With racing he’s learning.

“I’m not sure where we go, we have Maximized teed-up for the July Stakes at Newmarket and his form is working out nicely after the Windsor Castle, but you can never have too many in them. There will be options and I’ll move them around accordingly.”

There was not to be a second Royal Ascot winner for US handler George Weaver, but connections can remain positive about the new Wathnan Racing acquisition who will now be targeted at the Breeders’ Cup.

Wathnan’s US representative Case Clay said: “George really knows what he is doing with these two-year-olds and his assistant Blair (Golen) has done a wonderful job since getting here.

“As you saw in the paddock beforehand he is a very straightforward horse and I’m very proud of his effort. There was a moment there I got very excited, but he was beaten by a very good colt and it was such a valiant effort in defeat.

“We will take him back to the US and we’ll target the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and work backwards from that and try to get there.”

True Love powers to Queen Mary first for O’Brien

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True Love shed her maiden tag in style with victory in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Trained by Aidan O’Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore, True Love had chased home Tuesday’s Coventry Stakes winner and stablemate Gstaad on her latest start and was duly sent off the 9-4 favourite.

True Love took some time to work her way into the race as Zelaina set a scorching early pace, but she stayed on to real effect in the final furlong to beat 100-1 shot Flowerhead, with Patrick Biancone’s American raider Lennilu third.

True Love looked the part
True Love looked the part (John Walton/PA)

It was win number 93 for O’Brien at the big meeting, although rather surprisingly his first in the Queen Mary.

He said: “She’s lovely and in her first run Ryan came in and said they won’t beat her again and then after her second run Wayne (Lordan) said the same thing, that they won’t beat her again, and then you have to consider the two that beat her (Lady Iman and Gstaad) are very good horses.

“Ryan gave her a beautiful ride and Michael (Tabor) has always loved her and always spoken about her. It’s great as her mother (Alluringly) is in foal to City Of Troy and her sister is in foal to Wootton Bassett so it’s marvellous really.

“She was drawn by herself and there was no pace where she was so she had to go and do her own work and that’s what Ryan did, he was excellent on her. She was probably strongest in the last half-furlong and when she got going she really powered away.

“Ryan said he was a little slow to step and a little on the back foot all the time and I think that’s why he was trying to stoke her up a bit, but late on she was really strong.

“She had to work really hard and the only place she was going to get company was out in the middle and Ryan did really well to let her go there. She was under the pump a long way out, but so strong at the line and is obviously high class.

“She’s like a four-year-old really and Ryan thought she would be better when she steps up to six furlongs and she’s a big, mature filly who walks around the ring like a four-year-old, she’s so scopey – she’s something to look forward to.”

On future plans, O’Brien added: “I think we look forward to going up in trip now, the lads will decide that. You would imagine she would have no problem going six furlongs, but she is No Nay Never and he’s a big speed influence always.

“The Queen Mary winner seems to always head to Deauville (Prix Morny) or the Curragh (Airlie Stud Stakes) and that would be the two races really or there is the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket in July. That may come too soon, but we will see how she is.”

Flowerhead on her way to post at Royal Ascot
Flowerhead on her way to post at Royal Ascot (John Walton/PA)

Flowerhead’s trainer Charlie Clover was thrilled to secure a Royal Ascot placing in his first full season with a licence.

He said: “This is a huge start for us, we were struggling away for the first few months but it’s really kicked into gear the past few weeks and it’s been a delight to see the whole team find their feet.

“It’s only a small team but it’s been massively welcome to see these horses run to form and I can’t thank (owner) Amo Racing enough, they’ve done so much for me and my career in helping me get off the ground.

“We liked her at home, we hoped she’d run a nice race but second was a bit of a dream. You can get greedy quite quickly and think you could have won it, who knows?

“I’m delighted to be in the frame and for her to run a big race for owners who are so important to me.”

Biancone plans to head back to America with Lennilu following her run, saying: “She’s only a baby.

“I liked the fact she was the first one off the bridle and she was there at the end, which means she will go a bit further and that is great. We’re happy, she fought all the way.

“We go home, we give her a break. The first plan was to try to bring her here which we did, she’s Grade Two placed now which is good. She’ll have a little vacation and we’ll see her in Del Mar.”

The Richard Hannon-trained Harry’s Girl was pulled up during the race and it was later confirmed the filly had sustained a fatal injury.

Jockey plans still to be made for Dancing Gemini

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Roger Teal has yet to decide who will ride Dancing Gemini in the Royal Ascot curtain-raiser, the Queen Anne Stakes, next week.

Just touched off in the Lockinge by Lead Artist, the four-year-old will lock horns once again with John and Thady Gosden’s colt, as well as the likes of Rosallion and Notable Speech.

It will be a real case of jockey merry-go-round, however, as Colin Keane will be replacing Oisin Murphy on Lead Artist due to his new retained role with Juddmonte, while Ryan Moore, who rode Dancing Gemini at Newbury, could be required by Aidan O’Brien for Diego Velazquez.

The leaves the door open for either Rossa Ryan or Kieran Shoemark, who have both ridden Dancing Gemini to victory this season.

“There are three boys who have ridden him this season and we don’t know which way the cards are going to fall yet,” said Teal on Sky Sports Racing.

“One of them will be on board but I can’t say which one yet, we’ll just have to see what Mr O’Brien does with Ryan and Ralph Beckett with Rossa. Kieran is free so it will be one of the three.

“Rosallion and Notable Speech have a couple of lengths to make up on us and if the ground is on the easier side, I know the forecast is unpredictable at the moment, but if there’s soft in it then it will be more in our favour than theirs.

“I was tremendously proud of him, but I won’t lie I was gutted at Newbury. Second in a Lockinge is great, but to win would have been much better, hopefully we can win the Queen Anne and that will make up for it.

“Having a horse like Gemini in the yard is great for morale, they all play their part in getting this horse to where we are today.”