O'Briens celebrate epic success

RACING:SO YOU THINK may not have delivered Ballydoyle the perfect finale in the $5 million Classic but Saturday night's Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs was still hugely memorable for 18-year-old champion apprentice Joseph O'Brien who guided St Nicholas Abbey to a brilliant Turf success.

The 2009 European champion juvenile finally delivered in style on his potential with a sparkling victory that made O’Brien the youngest ever winning rider in the 28-year history of the Breeders’ Cup.

It also completed a double on the day for his father, champion trainer Aidan O’Brien, who had earlier saddled Wrote to land the Juvenile Turf event with Ryan Moore.

The two Irish winners were the only European successes at a meeting which saw Godikova fail to complete a four-in-a-row in the Mile, fading to third behind Court Vision and Turallure, while Drosselmeyer sprang a surprise for veteran US jockey Mike Smith in the Classic.

But O’Brien Jnr captured the Breeders’ Cup imagination in true trans-Atlantic style with an impressively cool display on St Nicholas Abbey to give his father a third win in the race.

“A dream come true,” is how the jockey described the experience. “I’ve been coming to the Breeders’ Cup since I was a little boy. To win a race here is very special. The horse was always going easy and picked up when it mattered.”

His thrilled father said: “It’s one of those special days. It’s magic for Joseph. He has been doing it since his eyes were open, and he knows the horses better than me. He’s never known anything else.”

Wrote will be trained for next year’s classics after a convincing success and So You Think will remain in training for another campaign too despite fading to sixth in the closing stages of the Classic. A drop back to a mile, and possible clashes with Frankel, are on the cards for the ex-Australian star in 2012.

“He’s a horse with a lot of speed, and we were probably going the wrong way with him in that sense. Ryan Moore said they weren’t going quick enough for him, and I look forward to going back to a mile with him. He’d have no problem with that distance,” O’Brien said.

“I don’t think the dirt was any problem, but I would say distance-wise we should come back rather than go forward.” he added.