O’Brien family make history at Epsom

Aidan O’Brien and his jockey son Joseph became the first father and son team in its 232-year-history to win the Epsom Derby when claiming last Saturday’s 2012 renewal with hot favourite Camelot.

Strongly fancied to add to his English 2,000 Guineas success of earlier in the season, Camelot went off an 8/13 shot to account for his eight rivals with O’Brien junior showed nerves of steel as he settled the market at the rear in the early stages.
Heading around the famous Tattenham Corner, Camelot’s stable companion Astrology was setting a spanking gallop up front.  At that point, Camelot had all of 10 lengths to make up, but with 19-year-old O’Brien showing maturity beyond his years, he produced his mount at just the right moment when powering clear to beat runner-up Main Sequence by five lengths. The pace-setting Astrology just failed to make it a 1-2 for Ballydoyle when a further short-head back in third.
Naturally, the O’Brien family were in joyous mood following this historic win with the winning jockey’s mother, Ann Marie, revealing, “That was torture. I met Lester Piggott last week and he said, ‘tell Joseph not to be in any hurry,” and I knew when I saw him coming that he had timed it perfectly.”
While her husband Aidan O’Brien is no stranger to big-race success – he has already trained the winners of 200 Group One races – Saturday’s success obviously meant the world to the farmer’s son from Wexford who has revolutionised training in the 19 years since he first took out a license.
“This is a day you dream about but think will never happen,” he said. “It’s even bigger than a dream to be honest. Camelot was always a seriously good horse, right from the first day we worked him. He has such class it’s frightening. I’ll have to speak with his joint-owners Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor where he goes next and we’ll make a plan with him next week.”
O’Brien junior, who has developed into a world class jockey since his first success as an apprentice three years ago, reflected, “Camelot is very special, no question, and has never let me down. Coming down the hill he was quite green through inexperience and he just wanted to see where he was putting his feet. When I asked him to pick up, he flew home and won with a good bit in hand.”
The question on everybody’s lips now is can Camelot go on to win the ‘Triple Crown’, thus emulating the great Nijinsky who was the last horse to win the 2,000 Guineas, the Derby and the St Leger in the one season back in 1970.
The post-race sounding of Camelot’s connections would indicate that the Doncaster race is now firmly in their sights and what a crowd that would attract to the north of England track if, as expected, the Ballydoyle runner gets the green light to step up in trip for that one-mile, six-furlong contest in September.
While the Derby success was the highlight of the weekend for the Coolmore/Ballydoyle camp, O’Brien had continued his total domination of this season’s British Classics when sending out 20/1 shot, Was, to land Friday’s Epsom Oaks.
British trainers must be getting fed up of the sight of O’Brien at this stage as he has so far completed a clean sweep of all Classics run so far this year and Was, given a peach of a ride by Seamie Heffernan on the inside rail, kept going in great style to fend off the challenge of runner-up Shirocco Star by a neck with 11/4 favourite The Fugue half a length away in third.

Weather-hit Ballingarry re-fixed for Saturday

The vagaries of the Irish weather were never more forcibly illustrated than when last Sunday’s opening session of the Ormond Hunt two-day point-to-point meeting at Ballingarry had to be postponed due to waterlogging.
Ironically, the Ballingarry course had been watered earlier in the week in a bid to produce safe jumping ground, but a downpour on Saturday left water lodged on the course with the organisers forced to draw stumps early on Sunday morning following a track inspection.
Thankfully, Monday’s fixture at the Premier County venue did manage to go ahead while Sunday’s cancelled card will now be run off (weather permitting) this coming Saturday with a 12 noon start time.
Derek O’Connor reached another notable milestone in his remarkable riding career when bagging his 800th winner between the flags aboard Robert Tyner’s 7/4 favourite Takemetotheisland in the opening mares’ winners’ race at Kinsale on Saturday evening.
O’Connor has enjoyed great success with Tyner over the years and he was seen to good effect here when,  having given the victorious son of Beneficial a typically patient ride on the rain-softened ground, he produced the Denis McCarthy-owned youngster with a well-timed challenge to beat runner-up Rua Nua by four lengths.
The Tubber rider was also in action at the second part of this popular two-day meeting on Sunday afternoon where he notched up his 69th win of the season aboard Tyner’s Presenting Rebel in the winners’ race.
In a race run in memory of Tyner’s teenage son Jack who lost his life in a riding accident at Dungarvan last season, the victory of 4/5 favourite Presenting Rebel was certainly fitting as O’Connor’s mount kept pulling out more on the run-in to beat Coursey Rover by a length and a half.
Tyner has been in unstoppable form this season and he looks certain to be crowned leading trainer for the 20011-12 season as he enters Saturday’s final day of the season at Ballingarry five winners ahead (29-24) of reigning champion Colin Bowe.
Martin Brassil doesn’t have that many runners on the point-to-point circuit but the Newmarket-on-Fergus native is a dab hand at producing young horses too and he got on the score sheet at last Saturday’s Kinsale fixture where his Woodford County took the five-year-old geldings’ maiden in great style.
Second at Ballybunion just six days earlier, Woodford County, who races in the colours of his trainer’s wife, Deirdre, was ridden by top jockey Jamie Codd and the 5/2 shot, who hit the front at the final fence, displayed a nice turn of foot when quickening up well on the run-in to beat the Roger Quinlan-ridden Petie McSweenie by two lengths.
Brassil, who trains in Dunmurray, Kildare, will always be associated with the historic success of the Bernard Carroll-owned Numbersixvalverde in the 2006 Aintree Grand National and he indicated that Woodford County will be offered for sale at the upcoming Doncaster sales.