O’Brien boys on a Riyadh raid

RIYADH – Irish master trainer Aidan O’Brien may be skipping a date with another Saudi Cup meeting on Feb 14, but the sire line will still be highly represented in Riyadh.

Sons Joseph and Donnacha will carry the family banner high, with a strong team of five runners between them on the undercard of the world’s richest race at US$20 million (S$25.2 million).

Big brother Joseph, 32, takes the lion’s share with four – Galen in the US$3 million Neom Turf Cup (2,100m), and the trio of Goodie Two Shoes, Sons And Lovers and Tennessee Stud in the US$2.5 million Group 2 Red Sea Turf Handicap (3,000m).

Younger brother Donnacha, 27, saddles just the one runner in Comanche Brave in the US$2 million 1351 Turf Sprint at his maiden Saudi raid. But the horse is by no means short on quality, especially given his third to Strauss in the recently run inaugural Abu Dhabi Gold Cup (1,600m) on Feb 7.

Noticeably, the two brothers, both multiple Group 1 winners both at home and around the world, will not clash in any race – a situation not created by design, said the close but competitive duo.

Donnacha said he actually found out he would be bumping into his brother in Saudi Arabia only recently.

“To be honest, I didn’t even know Joseph had runners here until two weeks ago,” said Donnacha, who like Joseph, were both two-time Irish champion jockeys riding mainly for their father before they took up training.

“It’s more like asking if he’s going to Saudi rather than trying to find out if we are competing against each other, if that makes sense.

“But we’re competitive – on the track we want to beat each other, but that’s it. Off the track, we get on very well. We’ve always been a close family.

“Besides, we race against each other all the time. It’s a friendly rivalry and we end up in the same quarantine because we’re from the same country, so it works out well.

“Anyway, our runners don’t clash, so we’ll be cheering for each other.”

The father, who sealed his first Saudi Cup victory with Tower Of London in the Red Sea Handicap in 2024, has passed up the lucrative Middle-East meeting this time round, and will not be on hand either.

The phone in Ballydoyle will be ringing a fair bit, though.

“We call our Dad all the time. I speak to him every day, any queries I have or anything, I run it past him,” said Donnacha. “It’s not a bad person to have to give me advice.

“Dad won’t be here as he had no runners this year and is busy at home this time of the year. He doesn’t travel unless he has to.”

Clearly, Joseph has been the busier of the two, even if he remains realistic about his chance of breaking his Saudi duck.

“We’re hopeful as all four horses have good credentials for their races,” he said. “They probably all need their career best for them to win this weekend, but we’re confident they can collect some prize money.”

Surprisingly, he is leaning towards the less hyped Sons And Lovers as his dark horse.

“I think maybe Sons And Lovers is probably one of the bigger prices, but I think he’s training very well. So hopefully he can run a great race,” he said.

“Galen had a really good run in Bahrain and Hong Kong. So if he can back up on his performances on both these races, then he’ll run very well again.

“I’ve been here a few times before. It’s very competitive racing and fantastic prize money and it’s a privilege to be here.

“We haven’t had a winner at this meeting yet. So, who knows, maybe this year.”

If if he comes up short, another O’Brien can still keep the name up in lights, even if Comanche Brave is up against the likes of Lazzat, Reef Runner and Shin Emperor.

“We come back in trip a little from the mile to around seven furlongs, but he’s in good form,” said Donnacha, who has again booked Ryan Moore for the job.

“Probably the Sprint field here has a bit more depth, but I think the standard was also quite high in Abu Dhabi.

“If he runs well and comes out good, we’ll bring him back to Ireland and we could come back to Dubai for the World Cup night six-furlong race (Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint).”

manyan@sph.com.sg