Seven-winner blitz from O’Brien

AIDAN O’BRIEN launched a seven-winner blitz over the weekend that included a near 20/1 big-race double on Saturday at Newbury that featured the £350,000 Group 1 Lockinge Stakes, a double at Cork on Friday, and a treble on Sunday at Naas.

Ryan Moore got Rhododendron (10/3) up by a short head from Lightning Spear in a desperate finish to the Lockinge - this consistent sort has now won top flight races at ages two, three and four, and there will surely be more to come this season.

O’Brien and Moore followed up in the £50,000 two-year-old stakes race over six furlongs with The Irish Rover (7/2), and Aidan also won at Navan that afternoon with hotshot Southern France (4/7f) under his son, Donnchadh.

The previous evening at Cork, he and Seamie Heffernan completed a double in a pair of maidens, Most Gifted (5/2jf) making all in a fillies’ race, and El Greco (5/2). Aidan’s sons, trainer Joseph and rider Donnchadh, also had doubles to make it a real family night out.

And the Ballydoyle maestro rounded off a great couple of days with a treble under Moore at Naas on Sunday - Sioux Nation (15/8f) in the Group 3 Goffs Lacken Stakes, Sergei Prokofiev (2/7) in the Listed Coolmore War Command sprint, and Broadway (10/11) in the mile fillies’ maiden.

Pat McDonald from Taghmon also had three successive winners at two meetings on Saturday at combined odds of 120/1.

After enduring three close seconds, he scored on Celestial Force (2/1f) at Thirsk for Tom Dascombe and then went to Doncaster where he won on Ventura Knight (17/2) for Mark Johnston and Equilateral (3/1) for Charles Hills.

Earlier in the week he had a couple more good priced winners - an all-the-way success at Beverley on Quantamental (11/2) on Tuesday, and at the York Dante meeting on Thursday aboard I Am A Dreamer (8/1) for Johnston.

Pat Dobbs is getting back into the swing of things and had three winners in the week, on Desert Path (4/1) for Amanda Perrett at Windsor, Sun Maiden (4/5f) for Michael Stoute at Salisbury, and Al Barg for Richard Hannon at a handsome 16/1 at Doncaster on Saturday evening.

Over the jumps in Britain, Tom O’Brien won on an Ian Williams hotshot at Kempton, Cause Toujours (3/10), and on Paul Henderson’s Good Man Vinnie (11/4) at Newton Abbot. Daryl Jacob had a ten-length win at Wincanton on Indian Hawk (11/8) for Nicky Henderson.

It was a quiet week over the jumps in Ireland.

On Friday at Downpatrick, Seán Flanagan had a couple of seconds, on Noel Meade’s Crown of Thorns (11/10f), on which he was also second at Punchestown two days earlier, and on Liz Doyle’s Ri An Rian (3/1f) in the beginners’ chase.

Paul Nolan brought a couple on a 600 km. round trip from Davidstown but had no luck.