logo
Coolmore backs trainer Aidan O'Brien to have Storm Boy at his best for Royal Ascot

Coolmore backs trainer Aidan O'Brien to have Storm Boy at his best for Royal Ascot

News.com.au2 days ago

Coolmore is relying on the training genius of Aidan O'Brien to orchestrate the ultimate form reversal from crack colt Storm Boy at England's prestigious Royal Ascot carnival.
Storm Boy, formerly trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, made his debut for the O'Brien stable earlier this month with an inglorious last of nine in the Greenlands Stakes at The Curragh.
The Storm Boy that ran in Ireland was nothing like the brilliant, at times dominating sprinter who won five of his nine starts in Australia including the Magic Millions, Skyline Stakes and San Domenico Stakes, earning more than $3.5m.
But Coolmore Australia's Tom Magnier said O'Brien is confident Storm Boy can bounce back at Royal Ascot.
'It didn't go to plan last start,'' Magnier said.
'But City Of Troy had a bad day in the Guineas first-up last year and Aidan was able to turn him around.
'I have every confidence Aidan will be able to get Storm Boy back on track for Royal Ascot.''
Magnier's mention of City Of Troy was a reference to how O'Brien prepared the colt for a stunning English Derby win last year after he had flopped in the 2000 Guineas at his previous start.
O'Brien achieved a similar result with Auguste Rodin in the Derby two years ago after that colt also came off a poor 2000 Guineas effort.
🇮🇰 Ireland Greenlands Stakes @curraghrace
Curragh - Groupe 2 - 4 ans et plus - 1207m - 9 Pts - 120 000 €
� 🥇James's Delight (h) (Ire) �O Murphy @oismurphy
🥈Lethal Levi
🥉Big Gossey
ðŸ'–(Invincible Army (Ire) - Heavens Peak (Ire) par Pivotal (Gb))
🕶�C… pic.twitter.com/hi01hRRzUF
â€' French and International Horse Racing (@Vincenzo0612) May 24, 2025
Storm Boy is not Derby-bound but he is being aimed at the prestigious Royal Ascot carnival later this month where he is likely to line up in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (1200m) on June 21.
In early TAB betting on the Jubilee Stakes, the Jerome Reynier -trained Lazzat, runner-up in the Golden Eagle at Rosehill last spring, is the $4.50 favourite with Storm Boy out to $11.
O'Brien hasn't been discouraged by Storm Boy's shock showing at The Curragh and has been surprisingly upbeat when interviewed by Irish media.
'He had never been galloped or worked, but we had to run him to find out what else we had to work on between now and Ascot,' O'Brien said.
'We learned that we have a good bit to work on, but I was very happy to do that.
'He was beaten less than six lengths and he got a bad enough check at the two (furlong) marker. You could take another two off that, so he probably would have been beaten less than four lengths.
'That was a very respectable run. I know everyone was disappointed, but we think we'll take him home now and we're going to train him.
'We haven't really trained him yet and hopefully what we think will come, will come.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Coolmore backs trainer Aidan O'Brien to have Storm Boy at his best for Royal Ascot
Coolmore backs trainer Aidan O'Brien to have Storm Boy at his best for Royal Ascot

Daily Telegraph

time2 days ago

  • Daily Telegraph

Coolmore backs trainer Aidan O'Brien to have Storm Boy at his best for Royal Ascot

Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News. Coolmore is relying on the training genius of Aidan O'Brien to orchestrate the ultimate form reversal from crack colt Storm Boy at England's prestigious Royal Ascot carnival. Storm Boy, formerly trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, made his debut for the O'Brien stable earlier this month with an inglorious last of nine in the Greenlands Stakes at The Curragh. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! The Storm Boy that ran in Ireland was nothing like the brilliant, at times dominating sprinter who won five of his nine starts in Australia including the Magic Millions, Skyline Stakes and San Domenico Stakes, earning more than $3.5m. But Coolmore Australia's Tom Magnier said O'Brien is confident Storm Boy can bounce back at Royal Ascot. 'It didn't go to plan last start,'' Magnier said. 'But City Of Troy had a bad day in the Guineas first-up last year and Aidan was able to turn him around. 'I have every confidence Aidan will be able to get Storm Boy back on track for Royal Ascot.'' • 'The boy has become a man': Bigger, stronger Harry thrills Doyle Magnier's mention of City Of Troy was a reference to how O'Brien prepared the colt for a stunning English Derby win last year after he had flopped in the 2000 Guineas at his previous start. O'Brien achieved a similar result with Auguste Rodin in the Derby two years ago after that colt also came off a poor 2000 Guineas effort. Storm Boy is not Derby-bound but he is being aimed at the prestigious Royal Ascot carnival later this month where he is likely to line up in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (1200m) on June 21. In early TAB betting on the Jubilee Stakes, the Jerome Reynier-trained Lazzat, runner-up in the Golden Eagle at Rosehill last spring, is the $4.50 favourite with Storm Boy out to $11. • Waller, McDonald aiming to end surprising run of outs O'Brien hasn't been discouraged by Storm Boy's shock showing at The Curragh and has been surprisingly upbeat when interviewed by Irish media. 'He had never been galloped or worked, but we had to run him to find out what else we had to work on between now and Ascot,' O'Brien said. 'We learned that we have a good bit to work on, but I was very happy to do that. 'He was beaten less than six lengths and he got a bad enough check at the two (furlong) marker. You could take another two off that, so he probably would have been beaten less than four lengths. 'That was a very respectable run. I know everyone was disappointed, but we think we'll take him home now and we're going to train him. 'We haven't really trained him yet and hopefully what we think will come, will come.' Originally published as Coolmore backs trainer Aidan O'Brien to have Storm Boy at his best for Royal Ascot

Coolmore backs trainer Aidan O'Brien to have Storm Boy at his best for Royal Ascot
Coolmore backs trainer Aidan O'Brien to have Storm Boy at his best for Royal Ascot

News.com.au

time2 days ago

  • News.com.au

Coolmore backs trainer Aidan O'Brien to have Storm Boy at his best for Royal Ascot

Coolmore is relying on the training genius of Aidan O'Brien to orchestrate the ultimate form reversal from crack colt Storm Boy at England's prestigious Royal Ascot carnival. Storm Boy, formerly trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, made his debut for the O'Brien stable earlier this month with an inglorious last of nine in the Greenlands Stakes at The Curragh. The Storm Boy that ran in Ireland was nothing like the brilliant, at times dominating sprinter who won five of his nine starts in Australia including the Magic Millions, Skyline Stakes and San Domenico Stakes, earning more than $3.5m. But Coolmore Australia's Tom Magnier said O'Brien is confident Storm Boy can bounce back at Royal Ascot. 'It didn't go to plan last start,'' Magnier said. 'But City Of Troy had a bad day in the Guineas first-up last year and Aidan was able to turn him around. 'I have every confidence Aidan will be able to get Storm Boy back on track for Royal Ascot.'' Magnier's mention of City Of Troy was a reference to how O'Brien prepared the colt for a stunning English Derby win last year after he had flopped in the 2000 Guineas at his previous start. O'Brien achieved a similar result with Auguste Rodin in the Derby two years ago after that colt also came off a poor 2000 Guineas effort. 🇮🇰 Ireland Greenlands Stakes @curraghrace Curragh - Groupe 2 - 4 ans et plus - 1207m - 9 Pts - 120 000 € ðŸ�† 🥇James's Delight (h) (Ire) ðŸ�‡O Murphy @oismurphy 🥈Lethal Levi 🥉Big Gossey ðŸ'–(Invincible Army (Ire) - Heavens Peak (Ire) par Pivotal (Gb)) 🕶ï¸�C… â€' French and International Horse Racing (@Vincenzo0612) May 24, 2025 Storm Boy is not Derby-bound but he is being aimed at the prestigious Royal Ascot carnival later this month where he is likely to line up in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (1200m) on June 21. In early TAB betting on the Jubilee Stakes, the Jerome Reynier -trained Lazzat, runner-up in the Golden Eagle at Rosehill last spring, is the $4.50 favourite with Storm Boy out to $11. O'Brien hasn't been discouraged by Storm Boy's shock showing at The Curragh and has been surprisingly upbeat when interviewed by Irish media. 'He had never been galloped or worked, but we had to run him to find out what else we had to work on between now and Ascot,' O'Brien said. 'We learned that we have a good bit to work on, but I was very happy to do that. 'He was beaten less than six lengths and he got a bad enough check at the two (furlong) marker. You could take another two off that, so he probably would have been beaten less than four lengths. 'That was a very respectable run. I know everyone was disappointed, but we think we'll take him home now and we're going to train him. 'We haven't really trained him yet and hopefully what we think will come, will come.'

GEORGIE PARKER: AFLW should mimic NRLW State of Origin with a Australia-Ireland game in season build-up
GEORGIE PARKER: AFLW should mimic NRLW State of Origin with a Australia-Ireland game in season build-up

West Australian

time3 days ago

  • West Australian

GEORGIE PARKER: AFLW should mimic NRLW State of Origin with a Australia-Ireland game in season build-up

In the new frontier of women's professional sports, the AFL still has a lot to learn from the NRL — and its AFLW fixture for the upcoming season isn't getting it any closer to being the head of the class The NRL and AFL are like Melbourne and Sydney — two cities always bickering to everyone and anyone who will listen about who is better, even though both are major players in their own right. The AFL can truly claim to be a national sport and boasts much better crowd numbers, but the NRL holds its own with broadcast figures, especially in its women's competition. The NRLW State of Origin series has drawn a lot of eyeballs, with nearly two million people watching NSW claim the series over Queensland two weeks ago. Then, last week, two million people watched the dead rubber match — something the AFLW could only dream of. The AFLW's biggest match of the year last season, the grand final, attracted 354,000 viewers. The NRLW Grand Final, played as a curtain-raiser to the men's decider, drew nearly 700,000 viewers. The NRLW has a few advantages over the AFLW. The game itself, while tough, is simpler at its core, so the contrast between the men's and women's playing styles isn't as stark. The season is shorter, with the NRL holding back on rapid expansion, which has created more depth across the 12 teams. And the biggest point of difference? State of Origin — a marquee event that highlights star players and gives fans a reason to tune in during the regular season. The AFL, however, has not nailed it with the most recent AFLW fixture update when it comes to combating the sleeping giant that is the NRLW. While it's an improvement on last season's debacle, there are still plenty of holes. Firstly, why aren't there any double-header matches during the crossover with the AFL finals? This is a prime opportunity to attract a different audience during a period when there's less men's footy being played. The NRL has already shown how well this strategy works. Secondly, why are there no matches at Marvel Stadium? Given the nature of women's footy, matches are more affected by rain — and even more so by wind — than the men's game. Using a venue like Marvel, which is shielded from the elements, seems like a no-brainer to improve the standard of play and attract fans who are still on the fence. We all know Marvel is owned and managed by the AFL, so scheduling AFLW double-headers there to create a better TV product (which is where the money is) should be in their best interest. And finally, can we replicate something like the NRLW State of Origin during the men's season to generate interest in the AFLW? Perhaps an Australia-Ireland series, similar to the old International Rules format, given the sheer number of elite Irish players in the league. Whatever the solution, something needs to change. For the amount of money being invested in the AFLW, the return on investment isn't stacking up. And I think the frustration around that investment will only grow if more innovation isn't shown.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store