A top three-year-old last season, this year has not been as successful for the runner-up in the 2025 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Today, however, the daughter of Frankel was back to her best as she ran out a length-and-a-half winner over the Johnny Murtagh-trained Believed (16/1), with Lilt (6/1) third for William Haggas.

Minnie Hauk, ridden by Ryan Moore, was prominent throughout the one-and-a-half mile race and fought bravely in the closing stages to see off the Oisín Murphy-ridden Believed, carrying the colours of the race sponsor.

The prizemoney of £222,800 put Aidan O’Brien into the lead in the British Trainers’ Championship, ahead of Andrew Balding, who had led this morning.

Speaking after the race, the winning jockey, Ryan Moore, stated:

“The race was straightforward, but getting Minnie Hauk here has not been straightforward. She ran in the Arc 13 days ago and performed today the best she has done all year. Things have not gone right for her, but she was doing everything lovely. We were able to slide outside Sugar Island, did not go mad, and she just had more class than them today.”

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Ombudsman (5/4 favourite) took revenge on Calandagan for last season’s defeat in the race as the Godolphin-owned star won the Group 1 Qatar Racing Champion Stakes in terrific style for joint-trainers John and Thady Gosden.

It was the second part of a treble on the day for leading owners, Godolphin, who had earlier won the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes with Talk Of New York (3/1) for trainer Charlie Appleby.

The Gosdens were responsible for the third Godolphin and William Buick win on today’s card when 22/1 chance Fifth Council won the concluding Balmoral Handicap.

Minnie Hauk gave Aidan O’Brien, Ryan Moore and the Coolmore partners their only victory on the day when winning the Group 1 British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes.

Andrew Balding had landed a blow early in the trainers’ championship when Mount Atlas caused a 33/1 shock in the Group 1 Qatar Racing British Champions Long Distance Cup. Balding’s lead was short lived as Minnie Hauk’s win and a runner-up spot for Queenstown in the Long Distance Cup held O’Brien take the title.

Almareq (11/10 favourite) was a narrow neck victor over Paborus in the Group 1 Qatar Racing British Champions Sprint Stakes as William Haggis and Tom Marquand for on the board on Champions Day.

The consistent Night In Vegas gave owners Kennet Valley Syndicate VI another big payday when winning the £250,000 Qatar Racing British Champions Day Two-Year-Old Conditions Stakes for Charlie Bishop and Eve Johnson Houghton.

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A son of Camelot, trained by Aidan O’Brien, Darkness Falls won the Group 1 Golden Fleece Stakes at Leopardstown during Irish Champions Weekend, but this afternoon came back from nine to seven furlongs to claim his second win at the highest level this season.

Ridden by Ryan Moore, the juvenile colt got the better of the race favourite Desert Castle (10/11), with William Buick in the saddle, and Darkness Falls has now overtaken the Godolphin-owned colt at the top of the betting market for the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket next May.

Great Barrier Reef (15/2), ridden by Wayne Lordan, finished in third place, with Gentle Hurricane (50/1) next home for Andrew Balding and James Doyle.

Earlier on the seven-race card, O’Brien, Moore and the Coolmore partners took the Group 3 Native Trail Zetland Stakes with Drumbeat (10/11 favourite) easily defeating Wykehurst Park (7/2) and Apulia Bay (5/1) respectively.

Alphone La Grande Wins Cesarewitch for Martin & McGettigan

Tony Martin and jockey Patrick McGettigan teamed up for success in the Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Handicap as Alphonse La Grande (18/1) became a two-time winner of the two-mile two-furlong heritage handicap.

Found-pound claimer McGettigan got his mount up on the line to deny the 4/1 race favourite Sea Lantern, with Joseph O’Brien’s J.P. McManus-owned nine-year-old Dawn Rising (6/1) coming home in third place in the hands of Ryan Moore.

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A daughter of Ballylinch Stud’s Lope de Vega, the juvenile filly is now four wins from four after her success over the Rowley Mile.

Ridden by William Buick, the Godolphin-bred and owned filly was a one-length winner over Aidan O’Brien’s big-priced Haven (28/1), the mount of Ryan Moore, with Forbidden Fire (8/1) three-and-a-half lengths further back in third for Oisín Murphy and Andrew Balding.

The winner, Musical Times, who looked green in running, stayed on well at the end, and her trainer Charlie Appleby stated post-raced that she was now likely to head straight for the 1000 Guineas over the same course and distance next May.

For Haven, who won a Dundalk maiden a few weeks back, her run was a major step-up in effort, and she will now be among the Ballydoyle mix for the 1000 Guineas in either Ireland, England or France next year.

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The Andrew Balding-trained filly was claiming her sixth victory in six racecourse appearances in 2026, as the daughter of Blue Point ran out a two-and-three-quarter length winner over the Shane Foley-ridden Evolutionist (25/1) for trainer Karl Burke.

Paddy Twomey’s City Of Memphis (15/2), who was runner-up to Blue Bolt when the pair met in the Group 1 Coolmore America ‘Justify’ Matron Stakes at Leopardstown last month, had to settle for third place this time. The four-year-old Sioux Nation filly was a neck in arrears of the runner-up at the finishing line.

Colin Keane and Andrew Balding doubled-up later in the day with the victory of the Irish-bred 4/6 favourite Royal Quest in the BetMGM EBF Maiden Stakes over a mile.

The Mountarmstrong-bred Night In Vegas (8/13 favourite) gave his owners, Kennet Valley Syndicates VI, a big payday when staying on well under Charlie Bishop in the £200,000 Tattersalls October Auction Stakes.

Other Irish-breds among the winners at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile Racecourse today were Hoseki (11/8 favourite) and Arqoob (20/1). The former took the opening British EBF Premier Fillies Handicap for Willie Haggas and Saffie Osborne in the colours of Munir and Souede, while Jack Mitchell and Lucy Wadham had Arqoob in the winner’s enclosure after the HKJC World Pool Handicap.

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The two-mile contest, worth €275,000 to the winning connections, was the feature of an eight-race card on day two of the Autumn Racing Weekend at flat racing’s headquarters.

in 2025
in 2026

Chally Chute makes amends for an unlucky defeat in last year’s Irish Cesarewitch by defying a 5lb higher mark this time around.

A cracking result for the @rosullivan82 team pic.twitter.com/I5dTbZzlDR

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) September 27, 2026

Chally Chute, the top-weight with 9 stone 11 pounds, is owned by Julie White, one of the joint-breeders, with Dominic O’Neill, of the son of Fast Company, and was improving on last year’s runner-up spot in the race.

The eight-year-old won by a half-length from the Willie Mullins-prepared Sirius (28/1), with Galileo Dame (25/1), a neck further back, followed home by Madbadanddangersous (80/1) in fourth place.

Soul Love Wins Group 3 Renaissance Stakes

Karl Burke, a prominent visitor to Irish shores, claimed the Group 3 Qatar Racing Renaissance Stakes over six furlongs with Soul Love (5/2 joint-favourite). Ridden by French jockey Pierre-Louis Jamin, the chestnut filly had three-quarters-of-a-length in hand on The Curragh specialist, Big Gossey (12/1) at the line.

The nine-year-old grey runner-up was four lengths ahead of the other joint-favourite, Power Blue in third.

Made all, made all

It’s yet another successful Irish raid for @karl_burke as Soul Love makes every single yard in the G3 Renaissance Stakes.

Lovely ride, @pljamin25 pic.twitter.com/fK9yGu3OYk

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) September 27, 2026

Curracloe Remains Unbeaten

Johnny Murtagh’s Gowran Park maiden winner Curracloe (13/8 joint-favourite) remains unbeaten after two career starts following today’s victory. Successfully stepping up directly from a maiden to Group 3 company, the Qatar Racing-owned juvenile filly ran out a length-and-three-quarters winner for Ben Coen.

A filly going places

Curracloe, a daughter of first-season sire Baaeed, makes it 2-2 with a dominant success in the G3 @DarleyStallions Fillies Stakes.@JohnnyMurtagh | @BenCoen2 | @Qatar_Racing pic.twitter.com/BT2KyUSNBI

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) September 27, 2026

The runner-up, Alpine Wedding (7/2), for Saturday’s successful Goffs Million-winning combination of Paddy Twomey and Billy Lee, had two-and-a-quarter lengths to spare over Damsel In Distress (13/8 joint-favourite) in third.

Doubles for O’Brien and Coolmore

Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore partners opened the day with a quick-fire double, taking both maidens.

Raging Bull (1/2 favourite), bred by Whisperview Trading, had a head to spare over the John Murphy-handled Overhead Drive (14/1) in the Army Equitation Centenary Irish EBF Maiden. The juvenile son of Wootton Bassett was ridden by Ryan Moore.

JUST

Raging Bull backers were made to sweat but the son of Wootton Bassett eventually got the job done under Ryan Moore.@curraghrace | @coolmorestud pic.twitter.com/3RkSkAPA21

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) September 27, 2026

It was Inishannon, Co Cork, jockey Wayne Lordan who was in the saddle for the second Ballydoyle winner, Capability Brown (4/1), in the Izuzu Ireland Irish EBF Maiden over a mile and one furlong. Drawn on the rail, and prominent throughout, the Coolmore-bred son of Dubawi out of the Gailieo mare, Maybe, held off the late challenge of Colin Keane on Juddmonte’s Cluster (2/1) by two-and-a-quarter lengths.

Joseph O’Brien and Joey Sheridan teamed up to take the penultimate race on the card, the Kwiff More Bang For Your Bet Nursery, with 5/2 joint-favourite Moon Sand, while the finale of the weekend went to Fianna (4/1) for jockey Oran McGill and trainer Aidan Howard.

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The winner, who had finished fourth in a Group 1 in his last race, found trouble travelling this afternoon and his rider Billy Twomey had to wait patiently until he found his way through a wall of horses in front of him.

When he got his break, the son of Bayside Boy held off the challenge of his stable companion, Hi Corbett Court (80/1), who had made progress along the stands’ side throughout, under Siobhán Rutledge.

What a result for @ptwomeyracing

Trean leads home a stable one-two from Hi Corbett Court in the @Goffs1866 Million @curraghrace! pic.twitter.com/A9hNyyM8cO

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) September 26, 2026

Third home was Ballinea Star (33/1) for Donagh O’Connor and Robson De Aguair, with Bayside View (17/2), a half-brother of the winner, next home in fourth place, in the hands of Ben Coen for English handler Michael Bell.

The winner, Tréan, bred by Ballylinch Stud, was third to the Aidan O’Brien-trained Haffner at York last month.

Today’s win was a second success in the race for Paddy Twomey and Billy Lee, who also claimed the top prize with One Look in 2023.

“I think he’s a highly talented horse.”@ptwomeyracing has had more frustrating days, with Trean and stable companion Hi Corbett Court bringing up a 1-2 for the yard in the @Goffs1866 Million @curraghrace pic.twitter.com/jc7wbHJv0o

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) September 26, 2026

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Trained by Aidan O’Brien, the Ascot Gold Cup and previous Betfred St Leger winner, led home a Ballydoyle-trained Coolmore-owned trifecta.

Queenstown (20/1) and Wayne Lordan were second to the Ryan Moore-ridden winner, while Jan Brueghel (6/1) was third in the hands of Ronan Whelan.

Scandinavia, a son of Justify, is still only a four-hear-old and now has nine successes to his name and has won over €2 million in prize money.

Aidan O’Brien hinted after the race that this may be the colt last run of the season and that that he would have the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot as his main target next year.

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The Al Shira’aa Racing-owned two-year-old colt gave Joseph O’Brien another Group 1 victory this weekend following his win in the Betfred St Leger at Doncaster yesterday.

Incredibly it was a third O’Brien Group 1 success on the card at The Curragh today, as his father Aidan and his younger brother, Donnacha, had already won the Moyglare Stud Stakes and Bar 1 Betting Flying Five Stakes respectively.

Folsom Blues had finished second to Sun Goddess at The Curragh last month was winning at the highest level for the first time.

Sun Goddess had won the earlier Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes under Ryan Moore.

Monogram (9/4 favourite) and Colin Keane were second, also for Joseph O’Brien, while Florida Bay (12/1) and Ronan Whelan finished third.

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Bred by Aidan and Annmarie O’Brien’s Whisperview Trading and trained by their son Donnacha, the five-year-old son of Wootton Bassett is now a six-time winner.

The British raider, American Affair (8/1), took second for Danny Tudhope and Jim Goldie, while another cross-channel raider, Rumstar (10/1) third for jockey Rob Hornby, who flew from Woodbine in Canada overnight to ride at The Curragh today.

The winning handler, Donnacha O’Brien, nominated the Breeders’ Cup as an end of season target for his star sprinter.

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