Joseph O’Brien’s rapidly rising status as his father’s main rival is stamped all over this weekend’s Group One action.
Ahead of Sunday’s Irish Champions Festival action at the Curragh, the 250th renewal of the world’s oldest Classic, the Betfred St Leger, is dominated by Aidan and Joseph O’Brien, who have six of the 11 runners between them.
O’Brien snr is chasing a ninth Leger, including in 2013 when his son rode Leading Light. He is also chasing four-in-a-row in the Doncaster Classic. O’Brien jnr became just the second person to ride and train a Leger winner after Galileo Chrome scored for him in 2020.
This time he has snapped up Billy Loughnane to ride likely favourite Enceladus, while Saffie Osborne has a chance to become the first woman to ride an English Classic winner on his other hope, Highwayman. Enceladus will carry first-time cheekpieces.
Up against them is a Ballydoyle quartet topped by the Derby winner Christmas Day. No Derby winner has doubled up in the Leger since Reference Point in 1987. Ronan Whelan is again on his “blue riband” winner, although Wayne Lordan travelling to ride Pierre Bonnard rather than staying at home for Leopardstown’s action is noteworthy.
Both of those jockeys will be on duty at the Curragh on Sunday with Whelan on board the top-class Jan Brueghel, who is nevertheless a Ballydoyle second-string to Scandinavia in the €500,000 Comer Group Irish St Leger.
Just seven line up in the Curragh highlight, with Aidan and Joseph O’Brien each triple handed. The sole interloper is the English outsider Arabian Force. Only Robson De Aguiar upsets a family affair in the earlier Moyglare Stud Stakes and both O’Briens have five of the eight contenders for the Goffs National Stakes.
Such big race numbers underline the growing influence of the 33-year-old O’Brien throughout the sport. His prize money tally of over €3.2 million in Ireland so far this season is a million behind his father. No one else has yet to reach seven-figures.
It is an astonishingly rapid rise since first taking out a licence 10 years ago and among his 15 runners at HQ on Sunday are the Epsom Oaks heroine Thundering On, who returns to action in the Blandford Stakes, and Star Of State in a lucrative sales race.
The O’Brien family can also call on Donnacha, who supplies the likely favourite Comanche Brave for the Bar One Flying Five.
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A rare blot on Joseph O’Brien’s horizons is the unavailability of champion jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle. His recent Bellewstown spill rules him out of the most lucrative weekend of the campaign.
Declan McDonogh comes in for Trustyourinstinct in the Leger, although plenty will believe everything else is competing for place money behind the outstanding Scandinavia.
Winner of the Doncaster Leger exactly a year previously, the son of Justify has been faultless in four starts so far this season. He’s rated among the very elite of Ballydoyle stayers in Aidan O’Brien’s three decades at the helm there. That’s a bar that this opposition will find tough to scale.