JOE’S ABOVE PA!
O’Brien outshines his father in historic triumph
THE O’Briens made the Melbourne Cup a family affair as son Joseph’s Rekindling overhauled father Aidan’s Johannes Vermeer to spearhead an Irish 1-2-3 in the ‘the race that stops a nation’.
Jockey Corey Brown (pictured far right with the Cup and Joseph) collared Johannes Vermeer 50 yards from the Flemington winning post on the St Leger fourth to score by half a length, with a further two and a half to the Willie Mullins-trained Max Dynamite.
It made 24-year-old O’Brien, who rode his father’s Camelot (2012) and Australia (2014) to Derby glory before joining the training ranks in June 2016, the youngest winning trainer of the race. He said: “It hasn’t really sunk in yet. Rekindling had a very light weight and his prep went really well. Corey gave him an unbelievable ride – it’s not often in a race like that that the whole run goes so well. “I spoke to my dad (left), and he’s delighted!” Australian businessman Lloyd Williams, who was landing the Melbourne Cup for a record sixth time – he owns a share in both the first and second – added: “I’m so proud of this man. He’s a star. I’ve been telling people the father needs to watch out!” Paul Nicholls will return his star Politologue
to the highest level for the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown on December 9 – where he faces a clash with unbeaten superstar Altior – after the grey’s victory over stablemate San Benedeto in the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter yesterday.
In his last Group 1 race – at Aintree – last April, Politologue held a narrow lead when he stumbled and came down after the final fences, and Nicholls said: “We have got to go down the route of the Tingle Creek and hope it is soft.”