Thunder Moon rocketed to the head of the QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas (G1) market with a thoroughly emphatic victory in the Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes (G1) Sept. 13 at the Curragh.
The Joseph O'Brien-trained winner was taking a massive step up in grade after winning a maiden at the Curragh last month, but came through with flying colors under Declan McDonogh, albeit after overcoming an uncomfortable passage.
Once out in the open Thunder Moon found a lightning-sharp change of gear that sent him a length and a half clear of runner-up Wembley and straight to the top of the Guineas market.
Sky Bet and William Hill promoted the winner to 6-1 outright favorite (from 33) for the Newmarket classic, while the majority of firms offer 8-1 alongside Battleground, who missed Sunday's race after he was found to be coughing, at the front of the market.
Victory capped a magical weekend for the winning trainer, who celebrated classic success at Doncaster on Saturday with Galileo Chrome in the Pertemps St. Leger (G1).
There was a delay at the start with the field left standing in the stalls as Masen was reversed out and trotted up for the vet after rearing in the gates. He was eventually passed fit to race but that was not the end of the drama as things became increasingly tight as the field bunched from halfway.
Both Thunder Moon and 2-1 joint-favorite Lucky Vega were among those left short of room behind the leaders, both having to sit and suffer as Master Of The Seas swept to the front under William Buick.
The gap eventually opened for Thunder Moon with less than a furlong to run but it proved ample time as he was switched to the far rail before claiming a memorable success.
"He quickened very well," said McDonogh. "I just got on heels when I was trying to angle out a little bit and had to bite the bullet and sit and suffer, but he showed great heart when he got a bit of room and always gave me the feel that he was going to run them down."
The winning rider added: "He's got a serious will to win—he just wanted to run by them. I'd say the ground was as slow as he wanted, fast ground would suit him really well. He's a strong traveler and seemed like he was in third gear the whole way. It's lovely to get a group 1."
While the gap came in time for Thunder Moon, Lucky Vega was not so fortunate and appeared to suffer most interference among the 10 runners. An impressive winner of the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes (G1) last time, he kept on well inside the final furlong once in the clear to finish a never-nearer fifth.
Shale Wins Moyglare
Sibling rivalry in the O'Brien clan is played out on a different level to that of your average mortal and the youngest son of Irish racing's most illustrious tribe is beginning to shade the bragging rights against the eldest.
In Joseph O'Brien's first season training in 2016, it was in the Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1) that he secured a landmark first group 1 with Intricately, who was ridden by none other than Donnacha, likewise then enjoying his breakthrough in the highest echelon as a rider.
Donnacha, who at 22 is the infant of Aidan and Annemarie's quartet, would go on to win a further nine group 1s in the saddle, including four classics, plus two championships.
He sure is squeezing a lot in. At the Curragh on Sunday, in his initial season with a training license, he produced Shale to turn the tables on his brother's A.R.M. Holding Debutante Stakes (G2) conqueror Pretty Gorgeous with a determined triumph in the Moyglare. It was the third time they've met and Shale now shades it two-one.
This was O'Brien's first group 1 in Ireland as a trainer, but, remarkably, a third in three countries following Fancy Blue's victories in the Prix de Diane Longines (G1) and the Qatar Nassau Stakes (G1). It is a scary thought given what Joseph has gone on to achieve, but he is starting to show up the Owning handler as being only mildly exceptional.
O'Brien is also a year younger than the elder brother was when winning the same race, so that will help with the slagging.
The caveat, of course, is that few others have access to pedigrees as pristine as Shale's, another Coolmore-bred daughter of the indomitable Galileo and out of the 2012 QIPCO One Thousand Guineas (G1) heroine Homecoming Queen. Still. They're not exactly squandering the privilege.
Pretty Gorgeous had been heavily backed into 11-10 favoritism to reassert her superiority, and her rider Declan McDonagh clung on to Ryan Moore's coattails early on. When Shale came there to challenge two furlongs out, it looked like Pretty Gorgeous might drift in on her slipstream.
However, Shale found plenty for Moore when the gloves came off and eventually battled to a three-parts-of-a-length success. It was 2 1/2 lengths back to Oodnadatta, as the two protagonists stamped their authority all over this €250,000 event.
"She was nearly the first off the bridle and I thought she wasn't going to do anything at halfway, but she found a lot for pressure and she toughed it out so it was a very good performance," said the winning handler with all of his trademark cool before suggesting the bet365 Fillies' Mile (G1) or the Prix Marcel Boussa-Criterium des Pouliches (G1) would be next on the agenda.
Of her steady improvement, this being her fifth start, he added: "She was always a nice filly but she wasn't one we thought would be capable of winning a Moyglare at the start of the year. She has kept progressing the whole way and even her last run was good."
In winning the the Moyglare, Shale earned herself an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) Nov. 6 at Keeneland. The race is part of the international Breeders' Cup Challenge series.
Shale was promptly cut to deliver the fledgling stable its first English classic, with most firms cutting her to a general 12-1 ante-post favorite for the 2021 One Thousand Guineas. The trainer's big brother has yet to plunder a Guineas, so he might just beat him to that as well.
That said, Joseph promptly made amends when Thunder Moon swooped for National Stakes glory, and the Two Thousand Guineas is up first. It could be a big weekend in Newmarket for the O'Brien boys. Aidan who?
Glass Slippers Takes Flying Five
If you didn't subscribe to the theory that Glass Slippers comes alive in the autumn, you do now.
All six of her victories have come between August and early October and this latest success, her second at group 1 level, earned her a quote of 4-1 with Paddy Power for the Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines (G1) on Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) day.
Of course, that was the race she won so emphatically last year and all roads lead back to Longchamp on Oct. 4. She won't surrender that crown easily on this evidence.
Glass Slippers could not live with Battaash in the King's Stand (G1) at Royal Ascot or the King George Qatar Stakes (G2) at Goodwood, but this is her time of year and she fought back in typically tenacious fashion to repel Keep Busy by half a length in the Derrinstown Stud Flying Five Stakes (G1).
Winning jockey Tom Eaves could not stop smiling after the success and explained how important the speedy 4-year-old filly has been for his career.
He said: "She has been extremely good to me. It's a great training performance by Kevin (Ryan). We worked her last week and Kevin was very happy with her. She takes a while to warm into her season and comes good at this time of year. She's an amazing filly.
"You could do anything with her. She's so relaxed, has a great mind and is so tough. They went a good pace but Kevin filled me with loads of confidence and I knew she'd come home good.
"She did the same last year and seems to come right at the back end of the year. Kevin didn't rush her at all and we were pleased after the run at Goodwood that she was heading back in the right direction."
It was not looking good for punters who supported Glass Slippers into 9-2 as Eaves began pushing and shoving before halfway, but she relished the battle ahead, sticking her neck out to keep all challengers at bay.
Ryan confirmed the Abbaye is now the ultimate aim for Glass Slippers and paid tribute to Darren Bunyan for the way the Curragh-based trainer looked after his star filly in his absence.
The trainer said: "She's so tough and genuine but she has a lot of class. She loves it when they go really quick but the ground was tacky today, so she's done well to cope with that. I'm absolutely delighted.
He added: "Darren Bunyan has done a marvelous job with her the last 48 hours, it's not easy handing it over to someone else but he's produced her in tip-top shape. I'm very thankful to the Curragh and Darren.
"She's an amazing filly, so simple to train and she makes my job very easy. She'll go back for the Abbaye now."
The Flying Five victory awarded Glass Slippers an automatic berth in the Nov. 7 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) at Keeneland as part of the international Breeders' Cup Challenge series.