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Minding powers to victory under Ryan Moore
Minding powers to victory under Ryan Moore

From the archive: LOG-IN for FREE and watch some of Aidan O'Brien's training highlights


As we continue Irish week, it's time to look back on the some of the highlights of Aidan O'Brien's remarkable training career at Ballydoyle.

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WATCH: Magical the Queen of Ascot, October 19 2019

Having again chased Enable's shadow for much of the season, Magical claimed her third top-flight success of the year with a typically classy display in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot.

WATCH: Found just fabulous in France October 2, 2016

It took a very good horse to get the better of Golden Horn and Found was just that, running down the Arc hero in the Breeder's Cup Turf at Keeneland in 2015. A year later Found would become an Arc winner herself having waltzed away from stablemate Highland Reel to land the biggest race in Europe.

WATCH: George grabs Gold glory, June 16, 2016

Order Of St George would meet defeat in the 2017 and 2018 runnings of the Ascot Gold Cup but in 2016 he was at his peak, producing a quite brilliant display to match anything seen from the likes of former winners and fellow Ballydoyle inmates Fame And Glory and Yeats.

WATCH: Saxon Warrior breaks record in Racing Post, 28 October 2017

The following spring Saxon Warrior would go on to win the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket but his victory at Doncaster in the autumn of 2017 was arguably more significant. In beating Roaring Lion in the Racing Post Trophy, Saxon Warrior became Aidan O'Brien's 26th Group One winner of the year, breaking the previous record set by the late Bobby Frankel for top-flight winners in a domestic season.

WATCH: Winter blooms in spring, 7 May 2017

The 2017 English 1000 Guineas had supposed to be all about Ballydoyle talking horse Rhododendron but stablemate Winter hadn't read the script and following triumph at Newmarket, she went on to claim three more top-level victories before the season was out.

WATCH: Churchill claims Classic crown, May 6, 2017

A foot-perfect two-year-old campaign ensured Churchill was sent off a warm order for the first Classic of the 2017 Flat season and he didn't disappoint, powering to the front at the furlong pole before comfortably holding off the late charge of Barney Roy.

WATCH: Minding doubles up in Oaks rout, June 3 2016

Majestic in the English 1000 Guineas before meeting shock defeat in the Irish equivalent, Minding proved herself top of the tree with a brilliant victory in the Epsom Oaks. Her retirement early the following season was a huge loss.

WATCH: King Camelot rules at Epsom, June 2 2012

The closest I have come to witnessing a domestic Triple Crown winner in my lifetime and boy how close Camelot came. His narrow defeat at Doncaster was heartbreaking but his earlier cruise at Epsom a joy to behold.

WATCH: So You Think downs Workforce, July 2 2011

The Australian superstar who arrived at Ballydoyle in early 2011 with a huge reputation, So You Think proved himself more than just hype with beating former Derby and Arc hero Workforce in an engrossing match in the 2011 running of the Coral Eclipse. He might not have been quite as good as the Australians would have you believe, but So You Think was still very, very smart.

WATCH: Rip Van Winkle leaves it late at York, August 17 2010

Having spent much of his three-year-old career living the shadow of the great Sea The Stars, Rip Van Winkle enjoyed his crowning moment when getting up late to land the Juddmonte International at York under a power-packed ride from Johnny Murtagh.

WATCH: Starspangledbanner scorches to Royal success, June 19 2010

When Starspangledbanner made the move to Ballydoyle in 2010 he was already a dual Group One winner in Australia and that summer he proved himself the dominant sprinter on these shores. His July Cup win was hard fought but his pillar-to-post Diamond Jubilee victory a month earlier was all about speed as he left his rivals toiling in his wake.

WATCH: Hawk Wing silences doubters in Lockinge rout, May 17 2003

Despite finishing runner-up in the previous season's 2000 Guineas and Epsom Derby, Hawk Wing began his four-year-old campaign much maligned and with his reputation on the wane. A brilliant and bloodless wide-margin victory in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury soon set the record straight and he retired to stud with an official rating of 137.

WATCH: Galileo's legacy begins to take shape, June 9 2001

In becoming the best sire in the world, Galileo has left an indelible mark on Flat racing but it should not detract from his own achievements as a racehorse. In the 2001 Derby, the son of Sadler's Wells was magnificent on Epsom Downs though few could have predicted just how significant an impact he would go on to have on the sport.


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