Aidan equals record
O’Keeffe sets out with first track win
IT WAS a very good week for two Wexfordmen at polar opposite ends of the racing game - Aidan O’Brien equalled American Bobby Frankel’s world record of 25 Group 1s in a season and became British champion trainer again, while 18-years-old Seán O’Keeffe, member of a racing dynasty from Taghmon, set out on his career with his first track winner.
O’Brien had a double at the Champions’ Day at Ascot on Saturday with Ryan Moore. Order of St. George (4/5) was a game winner of the Group 2 Long Distance Cup having looked in trouble at the furlong pole, spoiling the party for Jessica Harrington’s outsider, Torcedor (25/1).
The ultra-tough Hydrangea (4/1) was a classy winner of the Group 1 Champion Fillies’ and Mares’ Stakes from French favourite, Bateel (7/4), and this was the one that saw O’Brien equal the world record. His million pound sterling haul for the two races also saw him cement his place as champion trainer more than two months before season’s end, and he was presented with the trophy by the runner-up, John Gosden.
He had chances to make the record his own but season stars, Caravaggio, Churchill and Highland Reel, did not relish the very soft going and all had to be content with third. And in Australia earlier in the day, Johannes Vermeer was also third in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup after a dismal ride by a local jock who got a twelve-day ban for his efforts.
Pat McDonald and Pat Dobbs dined at the top table at the Champions’ meeting at Ascot on Saturday with a ride each. It was good to see them there. McDonald ended the Stobart jockeys’ championship in a terrific seventh place with 80 winners and more than a million pounds sterling in win prize-money.
The Taghmon man is on the verge of a great milestone of his own; he went on to Wolverhampton that evening in a bid to crack the one hundred winner milestone in a calendar year for the first time. He did win on Love Oasis (7/1) for Mark Johnston but a couple of other places left him frustratingly stuck on the 99 mark.
His first century will not be long delayed now. He has worked very hard all year and deserves his success. He showed his worth on the all-weather at Newcastle the evening before when winning on Celestation (15/2). He led and seemed done when headed but he got back up to win by a nose from My Brother Mike (7/2f).
Earlier in the week in Britain, Tom O’Brien conjured a fine run out of 14/1 shot Officer Hoolihan at Huntingdon on Tuesday, and he scored with On Demand (5/1) for Colin Tizzard at Wincanton on Friday.
Jimmy Quinn, New Ross, scored a terrific 187/1 double on the flat at Nottingham on Wednesday, getting up by a neck on both Ed Dunlop’s Ruysch (10/1) and Jim Mackie’s Fire Jet (16/1). Pat Dobbs from Enniscorthy made it three on the day for Wexford when he won on Archie McKellar (11/4) for Ralph Beckett at Kempton.
J.J. Slevin from Caim went over to Carlisle on Thursday and had a nice win for Stephen Crawford on Verona Opera (6/1). He was due to ride Pronounced for Joseph O’Brien at Ffos Las on Saturday but it was declared a non-runner. I hope he did not make the cross channel trip for nothing.
Daryl Jacob had a Saturday winner at Stratford - El Terremotto (5/2) for Nigel Twiston-Davies - and a couple of places but was disappointed when Bristol De Mai was withdrawn due to ground conditions.
In Ireland, the finish of the mares’ bumper at Punchestown on Wednesday was contested by two Wexford riders at opposite ends of the experience scale, and the youngster emerged the winner with Seán O’Keeffe from Taghmon coming home in front of the reigning champion and seven-times Cheltenham winner, Jamie Codd.
Eighteen-years-old O’Keeffe was gaining his first track success at just his second attempt on board the well-backed Liz Doyletrained Cordovan Brown (8/1). He was three and a half lengths ahead of Codd on Florazi (5/1), and Nina Carberry was third.
Young O’Keeffe is bred in the purple himself as he is one of the famous Harveystown dynasty. He rode his first point-to-point winner at Grennan in May, 2016, on Tincurra, owned, trained and bred by his father, Jim.
The O’Keeffes of Harveystown have been synonymous with horses for a long time. His granddad, the late James Snr., bred Finian’s Rainbow which went on to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham and the Melling Chase at Aintree for trainer Nicky Henderson.
Trainer Liz Doyle commented: ‘Seán is a good kid to ride. He joined me only two or three months ago and that’s just his second ride on the track’.
Punchestown on Thursday was dominated by an amazing six-timer by Gordon Elliott, but Seán Flanagan scored a great 58/1 double for Noel Meade. This included the day’s €40,000 featured chase on Road to Respect (7/2), the pair seeing off a small but select field.
Flanagan had earlier won a hurdle by a head on Lex Talionis (12/) with a ride that drew warm praise from Meade.
Codd is riding really well and is third in the table with 36 winners for the season, behind Ruby Walsh and Davy Russell
Jamie Codd was part of Elliott’s six with an easy 14-length win on King’s Song (3/1f) in the qualified riders’ chase.
Aidan O’Brien kept an eye on business at home at Leopardstown on Sunday with a treble and quite a few places as well. He and Seamie Heffernan won the twoyear-old maiden with James Cook (4/7), ahead of son Joseph’s Latrobe; he took the €60,000 Group 3 Kilavullan Stakes with Kenya (11/8) under son, Donnacha, and he took the listed Trigo Stakes with Bound (5/1), ridden by Heffernan.