Horses to Follow
Ballydoyle Bonanza
As usual, Aidan O’Brien holds most of the aces among Ireland’s Classic generation in 2026
Photos: Peter Mooney & Healy Racing • Words: Alan Hewison
GSTAAD (GB) 118
b c Starspangledbanner - Mosa Mine (Exceed And Excel)
Aidan O’Brien became the winning-most trainer in the history of the Breeders’ Cup when Gstaad notched up win number 21 in the Juvenile Turf in style. Gstaad did what was expected of him at Del Mar, he was the highest-rated runner in the field, and the highest-rated juvenile O’Brien has sent for the race which he has now won eight times. Like many of the Ballydoyle juveniles at Del Mar, Gstaad had to overcome a slow start but such was his superiority he was able to make up good ground from a wide draw in the mid-part of the race and quicken at the furlong pole to win under hands and heels. It was a case of fourth time lucky at the top level, having suffered narrow defeats in both the Prix Morny and National Stakes before finding Gewan too good in the Dewhurst. From the best crop yet of the top-class sprinter Starspangledbanner, also responsible for the top filly of 2025 in Precise, Gstaad is the second Group 1-winning juvenile bred by his dam Mosa Mine following the Prix Morny and Middle Park winner Vandeek, a son of Havana Grey who has had one season standing at Cheveley Park. The Guineas mile takes a lot more getting than the Del Mar mile around turns but Gstaad should stay and looks the leading candidate for the first Classic of 2026.
Aidan O’Brien
HAWK MOUNTAIN (IRE) 116p
b c Wootton Bassett – Hydrangea (Galileo)
“I’d say Mountain Hawk is a Classic horse that could start off being a miler and go on up to a mile-and-a-quarter/half type. He’s a classy horse, big but athletic and tough,” stated Aidan O’Brien after the son of Wootton Bassett had led home a 1-2-3 for Ballydoyle in the William Hill Futurity at Doncaster in late October. Winner of his last two starts going to Doncaster, notably the Beresford Stakes over a mile, Hawk Mountain started second favourite behind stablemate Benvenuto Cellini and showed a good attitude in making virtually all in holding the third Ballydoyle runner Action by half a length, with the favourite a below-par third. Hawk Mountain isn’t flashy but is the sort that keeps finding. Out of the top-class Hydrangea, who proved versatile trip-wise, adding the 1m4f Champion Fillies & Mares Stakes to a Matron Stakes win over mile in the space of little over a month, he is a half-brother to the smart filly Wingspan, a Listed winner over 1m2f who then finished second in the Champion Fillies & Mares Stakes, as well as this year’s three-year-old Listed-winning miler Officer, both by Dubawi.
Aidan O’Brien
PUERTO RICO (IRE) 116
b c Wootton Bassett – April Showers (Galileo)
Puerto Rico took six attempts to get off the mark and it was only when connections opted to abandon a sprint campaign did he realise his potential, scoring all-the-way wins in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster and then striking up a good relationship with Christophe Soumillon for Group 1 wins in France in the Prix Jean Luc-Lagardère and when seeing out the mile well in the Criterium International at Saint-Cloud on soft ground. A mile is likely to remain his optimum trip at three and he could be a French Guineas contender. The son of the late Wootton Bassett is out of a sister to Irish 1000 Guineas winner Misty For Me.
Aidan O’Brien
ACTION (IRE) 115p
ch c Frankel – Gossamer Wings (Scat Daddy)
Having pushed stablemate Hawk Mountain close in the William Hill Futurity, Action has to come into Classic consideration, especially being a lightly raced close relation of this year’s Irish Derby winner Lambourn. The Doncaster run came on the back of a good Royal Lodge Stakes third, before that a Galway maiden win, all these at a mile. So far, Action has achieved a good bit more than Lambourn did at two so the omens are good for middle distances in 2026.
Aidan O’Brien
CONSTITUTION RIVER (FR) 114p
Wootton Bassett – Chuppy (Le Havre)
Yet another quality juvenile by Wootton Bassett, Constitution River didn’t get the opportunity to mix it at the very top level following his Group 2 Futurity win at the Curragh in August but remains a potential Guineas’ contender. He made all at the Curragh, just as he had done in a Galway maiden a month earlier. A big scopey colt, he looks the type to train and then will no problem getting the Guineas trip, he could get a bit further. A €400,000 yearling, he is out of a sister to the high-class 1m4f-1m6f filly Wonderful Tonight.
Aidan O’Brien
PRECISE (IRE) 114p
ch f Starspangledbanner – Way To My Heart (Galileo)
Precise didn’t get to sign off her juvenile campaign in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf due to an infection but by then she had already firmly established herself the best two-year-old filly in Europe in winning her final four starts. A Cork maiden winner, she still looked green when taking the Group 3 Prestige Stakes at Goodwood, was then the stable second-choice upped to Group 1 level in the Moyglare at the Curragh but showed a nice turn of foot to swoop late to win with a bit in hand. The step up further in trip in the bet365 Fillies’ Mile brought another level of performance as she readily outclassed her rivals off a strong pace, quickening right away inside the final furlong. Her wins have come on ground varying from good-to-firm to yielding so she looks quite versatile. Her sire Starspangledbanner had his best crop of two-year-olds yet and she looks a worthy 1000 Guineas favourite.
Aidan O’Brien
POWER BLUE (IRE) 114p
b c Space Blues – Visions (Worthaad)
The only one to break the total domination of Ballydoyle in this year’s list, disappointingly Power Blue wasn’t seen again after beating the long odds-on Ballydoyle-trained True Love in the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes in early August, emphatically reversing Railway Stakes form with that rival. With Prix Robert Papin winner Green Sense back in third and subsequent dual Group 1 winner Puerto Rico in fourth, the form looks very strong at first glance, although the latter was much improved later in the season over longer trips. Making all in the Phoenix Stakes, Power Blue has lots of natural speed and it will be a task getting him to stay the mile in 2026. He could well turn out to be a high-class sprinter.
Adrian Murray (Robson Aguiar in 2026)
POWER BLUE
TRUE LOVE (IRE) 112
b f No Nay Never – Alluringly (Fastnet Rock)
True Love’s juvenile campaign may have finished on a disappointing note when never featuring after a slow start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, but only stablemate Precise bettered her overall record during the season. Seven starts yielded wins in the Queen Mary, Railway and Cheveley Park Stakes, the latter occasion hitting the line strongly over six furlongs. Never looked like getting competitive at Del Mar, having to take a wide route after that slow start. A daughter of No Nay Never, True Love’s full-sister Truly Enchanting was a Group 2-winning juvenile over six furlongs in 2024 but wasn’t seen again after a disappointing comeback run at Cork in May. One would hope True Love trains on, she certainly has the physical scope to do so. A half-sister, Lily Pond, by Galileo, won at Group 2 level over 1m1f, but True Love looks a sprinter though she is likely to be given her chance at staying a mile.
Aidan O’Brien
BRUSSELS (GB) 111
b c Kodi Bear – A Taad Moody (Awtaad)
Brussels never won again after his debut Curragh maiden win on Guineas weekend but achieved a high level of form in some of the best sprints, fitted with a tongue-tie when second to Wise Approach in the Middle Park, denied by a nose in the Cornwallis, both at Newmarket, and then rounding off his juvenile campaign with a fast-finishing second to Cy Fair in a strongly-run Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar, a race he probably would have won but for a slow start and not handling the sharp bends. He was tried over just short of a mile on his third start when second in a Tipperary Listed race so is good reason to suggest he’ll get that sort of trip at three.
Aidan O’Brien
BENVENUTO CELLINI (IRE) 110p
ch c Frankel – Newspaperofrecord (Lope De Vega)
The William Hill Futurity looked a good opportunity for Benvenuto Cellini to stamp himself the leading juvenile of 2025 but he missed the chance in finishing only third to stablemates Hawk Mountain and Action in testing conditions which probably didn’t suit. Nonetheless, he remains very much a leading Derby candidate for 2026. Impressive in winning a Killarney maiden and when a five-length winner of the Group 2 KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown over a mile, he seemed to get caught out on the ground at Doncaster and Christophe Soumillon wasn’t hard on him. A return to better ground could well see a much better performance from the Frankel colt in a Derby trial. His dam Newspaperofrecord was a triple Grade 1 winner at around a mile in the US and her first foal is this year’s Lingfield Oaks Trial winner Giselle, a full-sister to Benvenuto Cellini.
Aidan O’Brien
PIERRE BONNARD (IRE) 110p
b c Camelot – Sultanina (New Approach)
This good-looking son of Camelot made a big impression late in the season, looking a real Derby prospect in recording 1m2f wins in both the Zetland Stakes at Newmarket and when handling testing conditions in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud. Christophe Soumillon didn’t have to get serious with him on either occasion so there could be plenty left to work on in 2026. Camelot has provided Ballydoyle with top mid-distance performers in Luxembourg and Los Angeles in recent seasons and Pierre Bonnard looks set to follow in their hoofprints. Well bought for €280,000 as a yearling, he is a half-brother to this year’s three-year-old filly Crepe Suzette, by Saxon Warrior, who stayed 1m6f to finish third in the Park Hill, and he could also stay the Leger distance in time.
Aidan O’Brien
CHARLES DARWIN (IRE) 109p
b c No Nay Never – Muirin (Born To Sea)
A two-year-old campaign ending at Royal Ascot is never a good sign, particularly so in the case of Charles Darwin, whose Norfolk Stakes defeat of subsequent Middle Park winner Wise Approach looks smart form. That completed a hat-trick of wins, following a Navan maiden over six furlongs and a minor Naas contest back at five, making all on each occasion. “Very fast, a sprinter,” was O’Brien’s summation after Ascot, “a big, mature colt”. The Breeders’ Cup was mentioned post Ascot but his season ended there. A son of No Nay Never, he is a brother to the high-class juvenile Blackbeard, winner of the Prix Morny and Middle Park in a busy two-year-old campaign but who never made it to the track at three. Coolmore went back to the same well at this year’s Goffs Orby Sale, lashing out €1.9m for the full-sister to Charles Darwin, out of the seven-furlong juvenile winner Muirin, who didn’t train on.
Aidan O’Brien
ALBERT EINSTEIN (IRE) 108p
b c Wootton Bassett – Yet (War Front)
There is no disguising the regard in which Aidan O’Brien holds Albert Einstein. Indeed owner Sue Magnier, reportedly changed the colt’s name three times before he ran as she didn’t think the previous ones did him justice based on his gallop work. A big, strapping son of Wootton Bassett, he started odds-on for both his starts in May over six furlongs, readily landing a Naas maiden and then beating subsequent Phoenix Stakes winner Power Blue in the Group 3 Marble Hill Stakes at the Curragh, getting himself out of a pocket over a furlong out then quickening well to win under hands and heels. The following month’s Coventry Stakes was the intended target but he never made it, having suffered a setback and never ran again in 2025. Out of a decent sprinting two-year-old in Yet, who never made it to the track at three, this is the further family of Giant’s Causeway.
Aidan O’Brien