Warrior Silences The Lions Roar As O’Brien Enters The History Books
There is really only one place to start when summing up this weekend’s racing news, and it is with one of the most remarkable stories of the entire racing year. On Saturday at Doncaster Aidan O’Brien saddled his 26th Group 1 winner of the calendar year. That’s more than any other trainer anywhere in the world has achieved…ever.
Since Churchill started the ball rolling when landing the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket back in May, O’Brien’s assault on racings biggest prizes has been relentless, with the juveniles and stable stalwarts such as Highland Reel all playing their part. In terms of numbers it was Winter who was the star of the show with four top level wins, but as the ever humble O’Brien tells us time and time again, this truly was a team effort.
To the race itself where the record was broken. Ever since Hydrangea’s victory last weekend put O’Brien in a tie for the lead for the legendary Bobby Frankel, it looked a matter of when and not if the record would be broken. The first race to immediately jump out as one of the most likely to provide O’Brien with the win he needed was Saturday’s Racing Post Trophy on Town Moor.
The Ballydoyle maestro had after all won the event seven times in the past, and had a four pronged attack headed into this year’s renewal. All looked to be going according to plan as O’Brien’s market leader Saxon Warrior tanked through the race to take it up around a furlong from home, only for John Gosden’s Roaring Lion to put in a strong burst of speed to pull around half a length clear close home. Stamina won the day in the end though, as whereas Roaring Lion wilted slightly, Saxon Warrior would not be denied as he stayed on powerfully up the rail to send the crowd into raptures and his trainer into the record books.
The compilers acted as expected to this performance, with Saxon Warrior now the 8/1 favourite for the 2000 Guineas and 5/1 market leader for the Derby, both.
The Jumps Are Back…
This has certainly been a flat season to remember, from the brilliance of Enable to O’Brien’s excellence. For fans of the National Hunt game though, the summer months provide something of a drought. That drought is now over though with the weekend just gone seeing excellent cards at both Cheltenham and Aintree, with familiar names such as Smad Place entering the winner’s enclosure once again. That also means the countdown to the Cheltenham Festival can really begin!
Looking ahead to next weekend, it is the JNwine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal which takes centre stage, with the likes of Our Duke, Outlander, Empire Of Dirt and Carlingford Lough all amongst the current entries.
…But It’s The Flat Fireworks That Light Up The International Stage.
We have not one, but two international showpieces for our punting pleasure this coming week. Saturday sees the razzmatazz turned up to the maximum in the US as Del Mar plays host to the 2018 Breeders Cup meeting. Can Aidan O’Brien stretch his Group 1 lead further still? Will Arrogate bounce back to his brilliant best in the Classic? Then in the early hours of Tuesday morning we have, “the race that stops a nation”, The Melbourne Cup. Our favourite Italian Frankie Dettori gets the leg up on defending champ, Almandin, whilst that man O’Brien has Johannes Vermeer and US Army Ranger amongst the current entries.
As ever, whatever you want to bet on, don’t miss out on claiming a free bet…or two!
