One of the two Group 1 contests on day one of the 2024 Irish Champions Festival, it was a fourth success at the highest level for the daughter of Caravaggio.

Trained by Donnacha O’Brien, the three-year-old had finished runner-up in the QIPCO 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in May before claiming Group 1 wins in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket.

She becomes only the third favourite to win the race in the last 11 years, the previous two were Legatissimo in 2015 and Tahiyra last year.

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Journalist Daragh Ó Conchúir will chat during the event with Classic-winning trainer Donnacha O’Brien, top jockey Shane Foley as well as other guests ahead of an exciting weekend of racing action.

The virtual event will be hosted online via Zoom and is free to view but registration in advance is necessary.

Register free of charge for the event on The Curragh Racecourse’s website.

Once registered a confirmation email will then be sent.

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O’Brien Senior, the 2014 Cox Plate-winning trainer, has entered 13 horses including 2019 contender Magic Wand and stable stars Japan and Magical. The Ballydoyle handler’s other nominations are Armory, Circus Maximus, Ennistymon, Mogul, Mythical, Order Of Australia, Peaceful, Sir Dragonet, Tiger Moth and Vatican City.

Joseph O’Brien has entered eight horses: Bolleville, Buckhurst, Crossfirehurricane, Degraves, Master Of Reality, Patrick Sarsfield, Pondus and Twilight Payment, while his younger brother has one horse nominated for the Ladbrokes-sponsored race, Prix de Diane winner Fancy Blue. There will be many Melbourne Cup Betting Offers and one to look out for maybe will be an O’Brien to train the winner.

The impressive list of 182 entries in total for Australia’s weight-for-age championship includes nominations from each state in Australia, New Zealand, France and England. Included within the entry list are 51 Group 1 winners, 42 Southern Hemisphere three-year-olds and 14 Northern Hemisphere three-year-olds.

Headlining the Australian contingent is Danny O’Brien’s Lexus Melbourne Cup winner Vow And Declare and his stablemate Russian Camelot, who was ridden by Cork-born jockey Johnny Allen to win the South Australian Derby in May, Queensland hero Alligator Blood and the inaugural two winners of The All-Star Mile, Mystic Journey and Regal Power.

With Russian Camelot and Nassau Stakes winner Fancy Blue among the 14 Northern Hemisphere three-year-olds on the entry list are 2020 Group 1 winners Kameko (Qipco 2000 Guineas) and Peaceful (Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas).

Eight horses that contested the 2019 Cox Plate are entered for the 2020 edition – Magic Wand (4th), Mystic Journey (5th), Kings Will Dream (6th), Harlem (8th), former Aidan O’Brien-trained horses Cape of Good Hope (10th) and Homesman (11th), Verry Elleegant (12th) and Danceteria (14th).

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Twenty-one-year-old Donnacha O’Brien, son of Irish champion flat trainer Aidan, and brother of former Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby-winning trainer, Joseph, had incredibly only three winners to his name before today’s win in France.

His filly, Fancy Blue, had finished an eye-catching runner-up behind his father’s Peaceful (11/4) in the Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas at The Curragh three weeks ago. With rivalry renewed in France today, the form was turned as Fancy Blue took the win, with Jessica Harrington’s Alpine Star (6/4f), winner of the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, taking second, ahead of Peaceful in third.

With Harrington’s filly making much of the running under Stéphane Pasquier, she was eventually worn down by Fancy Blue in the hands of Pierre-Charles Boudot, as Peaceful made her challenge on the outside for Séamie Heffernan. In a tight finish, a head separated the winner and runner-up, with a further head back to the third.

The winning trainer, speaking at Fairyhouse, said of his maiden Group 1 victory:

“I always knew she was a very good filly and we always thought the step up in trip would suit her. It definitely did. Pierre-Charles is a very good rider and I told him beforehand he should do what he wants. There was no pace early so he went forward on her and sat upsides the leader. It was exactly what I would have liked him to do. She quickened up well and stuck at it.”

French jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot, who tracked the favourite Alpine Star throughout,  said:

“We didn’t go that fast so I took her up to just behind the leaders and it was pretty straightforward. She produced a sustained burst of acceleration and was really brave at the finish. There’s a lot that goes into the kind of run of big wins I’ve enjoyed in the last year, but mostly it’s a case of being lucky to get on these good horses.”

Donnacha O’Brien immediately hinted that the Juddmonte Irish Oaks at The Curragh on 18th July might be the next target for his Classic-winning filly:

“We’ll get her home and see how she is tomorrow. We might have a look at the Irish Oaks at The Curragh.”

Trainer of the runner-up Jessica Harrington was pleased with her filly’s performance, coming just 15 days after her win at Royal Ascot, with the Moone-based handler admitting:

“She’s gone very close and it was a whisker either way. Maybe the ground was a bit too quick for her but that’s life. It’s quite a funny feeling to be disappointed after running second in a Group 1. She ran her heart out. She seems to stay and she did everything right and maybe the ground was probably a bit quick.”

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Aidan O’Brien is the joint most successful trainer in the history of the race with seven wins. He has six chances on Saturday to become the outright winning-most handler in the 1m 4f race’s history.

O’Brien’s first success in the race came with Galileo in 2001 and he quickly followed up the next year with High Chaparral. The Wexford-born handler then had to wait a decade before taking his third victory; this came in 2012 with Camelot. He tasted success in the race for the two years that followed, with Ruler Of The World (2013) and Australia (2014), making him the first trainer to win the Investec Derby three times in succession. Wings Of Eagles was a big-priced outside for the Ballydoyle trainer when he won for Pádraig Beggy in 2017, while last year Anthony Van Dyck gave O’Brien his seventh race win.

The Master of Ballydoyle has also saddled the first and second in the Investec Derby, having done so most recently with Wings Of Eagles and Cliffs Of Moher in 2017. He had previously achieved the feat with High Chaparral and Hawk Wing in 2002.

Aidan O’Brien has saddled an incredible 85 runners in the Investec Derby, having run a record eight horses in the 2007 edition of the race. Despite this, his best result that year was second with Eagle. Last year, saddled seven runners with Anthony Van Dyck capturing the 240th running of the premier Classic, and this year he saddles six.

His son Joseph became the first son of a trainer, who sent out the Investec Derby winner, to be the successful jockey in 2012, partnering Camelot, trained by his father Aidan, at the age of 19. He repeated the feat in 2014 on Australia, also trained by his dad. Joseph retired from race riding, with an overall record of two Investec Derby wins from five rides in the premier Classic, and started training in 2016. Joseph had his first Investec Derby runner as a trainer with Rekindling, 16th in 2017.

Joseph’s brother and sister, Donnacha and Ana O’Brien, rode in the 2017 Investec Derby. Donnacha came home 12th on Venice Beach, while Ana finished 17th on The Anvil, with both horses trained by their father.

In 2013, seven of the first eight home, led by Ruler Of The World, were trained overseas. This feat was also achieved in 2019, where seven of the first eight home were all trained in Ireland, six of those by Aidan O’Brien, including the winner Anthony Van Dyck.

If any of the Aidan O’Brien horses win on Saturday, he will again create another piece of Epsom Derby history as the winning-most trainer in the 241-year history of the premier Classic – few would bet against the Co. Tipperary-based handler doing so.

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