Joseph O’Brien’s meteoric training career could reach another landmark at Dundalk on Wednesday, in advance of a potentially lucrative foray to the Middle East this weekend.
The 32-year-old former champion jockey is set to have up to four runners at the $35.3 million (€29.7 million) Saudi Cup meeting in Riyadh on Saturday.
Although not represented in the world’s richest race, the $20 million Saudi Cup, O’Brien will have a serious shot at the $2.5 million Red Sea Turf Handicap, a Group Two contest over just shy of two miles, with a trio of intended runners, including Melbourne Cup runner-up Goodie Two Shoes.
His international stalwart Galen will also try his luck in the newly promoted $3 million Group One Neom Cup on the same undercard at the King Abdulaziz track on the outskirts of the Saudi capital. O’Brien’s Al Riffa was third to Shin Emperor in the race last year.
READ MORE
Before that, the man who became the youngest trainer to win a Melbourne Cup at 24 will try to reach 1,500 career winners faster than any other Irish trainer, including his father, Aidan O’Brien.
Having officially taken out a license in June 2016, O’Brien is one winner shy of bringing his worldwide tally as a trainer to 1,500. He sends four runners to Dundalk’s all-weather circuit, including the likely favourite Dusty Rock in the opening contest.
Unofficially, he is past the landmark figure already, as before taking out a licence, he had taken over his family’s training establishment at Piltown and was widely credited with the success of a number of horses, including the 2016 Triumph Hurdle winner Ivanovich Gorbatov. O’Brien snr was the official trainer.
According to the Irish Field, O’Brien’s tally of 1,499 winners to date consists of 1,012 on the flat and 487 over jumps.
Band Of Outlaws in the 2019 Boodles Hurdle was his first official winner at the Cheltenham festival, the same year O’Brien became the youngest winning trainer at the Breeders’ Cup. The Grade One winning novice Talk The Talk is a prime Irish fancy for next month’s SkyBet Supreme Novice Hurdle at the National Hunt festival.
On the flat, O’Brien has won at Group/Grade One level in six different countries and will try to add Saudi Arabia to the list this weekend.
Ireland’s new champion jockey, Dylan Browne McMonagle, flies to Riyadh from Hong Kong to ride in a jockeys’ challenge on Friday before teaming up with Galen in the Neom Turf.
Last year’s winner, Shin Emperor, one of four Japanese winners on the card in 2025, is back again in a race that’s also set to include France’s Facteur Cheval and Royal Champion from Britain. Galen ran fourth to Romantic Warrior in December’s Hong Kong Cup on his last start.
It is in the Red Sea Handicap, however, that O’Brien looks to hold a particularly strong hand. Browne McMonagle will ride the JP McManus-owned Goodie Two Shoes, the former steeplechase winner who found only Half Yours too good in November’s Melbourne Cup.
She is an 8-1 shot in some antepost lists, although her stable companion, Tennessee Stud, third in last year’s Epsom Derby, is half those odds. Ryan Moore will ride the Coolmore-owned colt, winner of the Prix Chaudenay over Arc weekend, for the first time. James Doyle is set to ride the Group Three winner Sons And Lovers in the race.
“These are races we have targeted well in advance. They are competitive, international events, and the standard continues to rise every year,” said O’Brien. “All four horses have prepared well for this trip. It’s a big stage and we’re looking forward to seeing how they perform.”
O’Brien’s Middle East interests this weekend also extend to Qatar. His Dundalk Listed winner Andab is entered for a local Grade Two contest in Doha, the Al Rayyan Cup, over a mile for three-year-olds. Former French champion jockey Pierre Charles Boudot is set to ride.
The Arc-winning jockey was suspended in France in 2021 following his arrest on a rape charge. The suspension continues with legal proceedings ongoing. However, Boudot was granted a licence to ride in Qatar last season. He denies all charges against him.
Boudot, who won the Arc on Waldgeist in 2019 and the following year’s French Oaks on Donnacha O’Brien’s Fancy Blue, previously rode as a work rider for a period at Ballydoyle during his suspension.
