Curragh cheers as Joseph O’Brien completes notable double on Oaks Weekend
The Kilkenny based trainer completed a magnificent Epsom/Juddmonte Irish Oaks double success
Joseph O’Brien and Dylan Browne McMonagle completed a magnificent Epsom/Juddmonte Irish Oaks double with different fillies as Johanna Walsh stormed to success at the Curragh on Saturday.
That Johanna Walsh win highlighted the remarkable run of form being enjoyed by both men and they were back for more at the Curragh on Sunday.
With Epsom heroine Thundering On a late withdrawal from Saturday’s Classic, Browne McMonagle switched to 7/2 chance Johanna Walsh and she led early in the straight before kicking clear from the furlong-pole to win by four lengths from David Menuisier’s English raider, the 11/2 shot Inis Mor which was ridden by Oisin Murphy. Jim Bolger’s 8/1 chance Sparan Nua came from the back of the field for third place.
Dylan Browne McMonagle and Declan McDonogh landed winners for O’Brien at the Curragh on Sunday. The Donegal star set the ball rolling when winning the nine-furlong fillies’ maiden on the three-year-old Star Performer for owner Doreen Tabor. At odds of 7/2, she raced to a two-lengths win over Dermot Weld’s 50/1 chance Sunatia.
Former champion jockey McDonogh then won two races for the trainer, partnering 5/1 chance Kirkland Sioux to take the eight-furlong fillies’ handicap. She made all the running and had a length and a quarter to spare over Stephen Thorne’s 12/1 shot Pink Oxalis.
With a very different ride, McDonagh followed up straight away on the JP McManus-owned Trustyourinstinct (13/2) who came with a late effort to win the Group 2 Curragh Cup. He led close to the finish to beat Donnacha O'Brien’s 25/1 chance Happy Pharoah by three-parts of a length with the Dylan Browne McMonagle-ridden Al Riffa, a 4/6 favourite for O’Brien, the same distance away in third place.
Jack Foley won the concluding 12-furlong maiden with the Donnchadh Doyle-owned Tokyo Tower. The 6/1 chance was another to make all the running, scoring by half a length under Billy Lee from Jessica Harrington’s 7/2 shot Pierre Grosse.
Joseph O'Brien and Dylan Browne McMonagle went to Leopardstown on Thursday evening and add three more winners to their tally. The 1/3 favourite Star Of State hardly came off the bridle as she raced to a nine-length success in the two-year-old median sires series maiden for two-year-old over the extended six furlongs. She made all the running and the Michael O’Callaghan-trained 12/1 chance Not You Too took second place.
Ballyskeagh won the seven-furlong maiden for two-year-olds to give the pair a second success. The strong 7/4 favourite battled well to beat Noel Meade’s 11/1 shot Star Glory by half a length.
The trebles were completed by even money favourite Bellesque in the eight-furlong fillies’ maiden, again for two-year-olds. She too made all the running and scored by three-parts of a length from Aidan O’Brien’s 6/1 chance So Lovely.
Joseph O’Brien landed his first winner of the weekend when the Dylan Browne McMonagle-ridden Teologia scored an easy success in the 13-furlong fillies and mares’ handicap at Down Royal on Friday evening. The 4/7 favourite duly completed a hat-trick of wins at the track when pulling clear inside the final furlong to score by five and a half lengths from Gerry Keane’s 5/1 chance Beauparc.
Venetian Power was the Joseph O'Brien and Dylan Browne McMonagle winner at Killarney on Wednesday as he gamely took the eight-furlong median sires series race. A 9/2 chance, he headed Jessica Harrington’s front-running 3/1 shot Full Volume inside the final furlong to win by half a length.
Joseph O’Brien had winners at three racecourses on Tuesday. The victory for the Dylan Browne McMonagle-ridden Sons And Lovers, owned by the HOS Syndicate, in the Group 2 Prix Maurice De Nieul at Longchamp was the highlight and there were also winners closer to home.
At Killarney, Oisin Murphy rode his first winner at his local track when partnering O’Brien’s 1/5 favourite Celtic Motif to win the eight-furlong fillies’ maiden. She made every yard of the running and coasted to a six-length win over Ken Condon’s 7/1 chance Taj Crown.
O’Brien had also won the opening mares’ maiden hurdle with the 13/8 favourite Fastnet Crystal at Downpatrick on Tuesday afternoon. The Richie Deegan-ridden five-year-old, owned by Nicholas Fahy, Orla Fahy and the Two Sheets To The Wind Syndicate, led after the final hurdle and drew away to score by six and a half lengths from the Nigel Slevin-trained 7/1 chance Mercurial.
Another Piltown raider won the two and three-quarter-mile handicap hurdle as 33/1 chance Tolka Row scored for David O’Brien. Ridden by Josh Williamson, the Aidan Fogarty-owned six-year-old led on the run-in to beat Noel Kelly’s 15/8 favourite Nakassama by a length and a half.
The concluding bumper went the way of Emmet Mullins’ Its Time For A Run for owner John Kenny. With John Gleeson in the saddle, the 3/1 chance headed Gavin Cromwell’s 2/1 favourite Payslip over two furlongs out to score by two lengths.
Another hugely successful week for Joseph O’Brien had begun with back-to-back winners ridden by Dylan Browne McMonagle at Killarney on Monday. The pair combined to take the 11-furlong fillies’ maiden with the 13/8 favourite Vauntingly, the three-year-old impressing with a three and three-parts of a length success over Aidan O'Brien’s 5/2 chance White Sand Beach.
It was far easier for the 5/2 shot Highwayman who eased clear from the furlong-pole to take the 11-furlong median auction maiden by all of nine lengths from Donnacha O'Brien’s 7/2 chance Yogini.
The Muchos Amigos Syndicate-owned Molto Amichi was well on top as he took the second of the eight-furlong handicaps for Eoin Griffin and Luke McAteer. A strong 10/11 favourite, the five-year-old made all the running and asserted over a furlong out to win by two and a half lengths from the Gavin Cromwell-trained 5/1 shot Earls.