{"id":551435,"date":"2026-07-15T19:17:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T19:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/551435\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T19:17:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T19:17:10","slug":"donnacha-obrien-refutes-australian-media-reports-of-stable-stars-sale-as-he-outlines-major-international-targets-for-big-guns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/551435\/","title":{"rendered":"Donnacha O&#8217;Brien refutes Australian media reports of stable star&#8217;s sale as he outlines major international targets for big guns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img alt=\"Google\" data-testid=\"Icon__Google\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"31\" height=\"31\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.racingpost.com\/svgs\/sharing-icons\/google.svg\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__GooglePreference\" class=\"sc-e0168fca-1 fmslm\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-testid=\"Link__GooglePreference\" class=\"sc-e0168fca-2 abBnO\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.racingpost.com\/\">Click here<\/a> to add us to your Google preferred sources or find out more <a class=\"sc-e0168fca-2 abBnO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.racingpost.com\/news\/add-the-racing-post-to-your-preferred-news-sources-on-google-aXuMw1I3jMYX\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__0__GlideArticleBody\">Donnacha O&#8217;Brien has the Breeders&#8217; Cup in mind for July Cup winner <a target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"Link__02__GlideArticleBody\" id=\"comanche-brave\" class=\"sc-b2c32ca0-0 dLKaTt\" href=\"http:\/\/racingpost.com\/profile\/horse\/6287954\/comanche-brave?_sgm_campaign=product&amp;_sgm_source=H6287954&amp;_sgm_action=search&amp;_sgm_term=comanche%20brave&amp;_sgm_pinned=false\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Comanche Brave<\/a> and Coral-Eclipse runner-up <a target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"Link__04__GlideArticleBody\" id=\"a-boy-named-susie\" class=\"sc-b2c32ca0-0 dLKaTt\" href=\"https:\/\/www.racingpost.com\/profile\/horse\/7748952\/a-boy-named-susie\/form\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">A Boy Named Susie<\/a>, who the trainer clarified has not been sold despite Australian media reports saying he had been bought for seven figures.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__1__GlideArticleBody\">Balantina&#8217;s success in the Breeders&#8217; Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar last year gave O&#8217;Brien a first Breeders&#8217; Cup success and he is eyeing more joy in the US, having also sent Kensington Lane to land the Belmont Oaks this month.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__2__GlideArticleBody\">That was one of the highlights of a fabulous two weeks for the yard as they were represented in four Group 1s, with A Boy Named Susie chasing home Constitution River in the Eclipse, Balantina finishing third in the Falmouth and Kensington Lane and Comanche Brave securing top-level victories.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__3__GlideArticleBody\">The impressive July Cup winner has plenty of options in the short term but O&#8217;Brien is relishing the prospect of getting him on fast ground later in the year.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Coppull (red) finished fourth to Comanche Brave (purple) in Saturday's July Cup\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.racingpost.com\/_next\/image\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fs3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com%2Fprod-media-racingpost%2Fprod%2Fimages%2F169_1008%2Fd883758fdf0e-gettyimages-2285649165.jpg&amp;w=3840&amp;q=75\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Comanche Brave: international targetsCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__5__GlideArticleBody\">&#8220;Comanche Brave has come out of Newmarket well,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Quick ground is very important to him, so we&#8217;ll go wherever we get a bit of nice ground, whether that&#8217;s Haydock or the Curragh for the Flying Five, or possibly the Abbaye later in the year, and then look to the Breeders&#8217; Cup in November.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__6__GlideArticleBody\">It was reported by several Australian news outlets in recent days that A Boy Named Susie had been sold to race in Australia after the Cox Plate.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__7__GlideArticleBody\">However, when asked about the reports, O&#8217;Brien said: &#8220;He hasn&#8217;t been sold. There&#8217;s been plenty of interest in him since the Eclipse and there have been discussions with various parties but no deal has been done.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__8__GlideArticleBody\">&#8220;We&#8217;ve decided to hold on to him for now and we have some big plans for him at the end of the year such as the Breeders&#8217; Cup, the Cox Plate and the Irish Champion Stakes.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__9__GlideArticleBody\">&#8220;It&#8217;s been a bit disappointing to see various news outlets report on the sale without checking sources or confirming with us.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Havana Anna (left) lands the Goffs Lacken Stakes at Naas\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.racingpost.com\/_next\/image\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fs3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com%2Fprod-media-racingpost%2Fprod%2Fimages%2F169_1008%2F0e33f53ef99f-14142471.jpg&amp;w=3840&amp;q=75\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Havana Anna: supplemented for the Sapphire StakesCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com\/photos)<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__11__GlideArticleBody\">Another smart sprinter for O&#8217;Brien will appear this weekend after Havana Anna, last seen finishing fourth in the Commonwealth Cup, was supplemented for the Group 2 Sapphire Stakes at the Curragh on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__12__GlideArticleBody\">&#8220;We&#8217;re going to step her back to five furlongs and we think she has plenty of pace,&#8221; added O&#8217;Brien. &#8220;We&#8217;re looking forward to dropping her in trip. We think it&#8217;ll bring about a bit of improvement.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__14__GlideArticleBody\">Read these next:<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__15__GlideArticleBody\"><a target=\"_self\" data-testid=\"Link__1511__GlideArticleBody\" id=\"249879\" class=\"sc-b2c32ca0-0 dLKaTt\" href=\"https:\/\/www.racingpost.com\/news\/big-race-latest\/william-haggas-weighing-up-big-group-1-targets-for-maltese-cross-after-best-performance-in-last-gasp-grand-prix-de-paris-win-aYEK82B4a4fR\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">William Haggas weighing up big Group 1 targets for Maltese Cross after &#8216;best performance&#8217; in dramatic Grand Prix de Paris win<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__16__GlideArticleBody\"><a target=\"_self\" data-testid=\"Link__1611__GlideArticleBody\" id=\"249848\" class=\"sc-b2c32ca0-0 dLKaTt\" href=\"https:\/\/www.racingpost.com\/news\/flat-racing\/im-thinking-this-might-be-it-for-me-in-the-sport-owner-considers-quitting-after-horse-mistakenly-withdrawn-at-lingfield-a65i84j25NWV\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">&#8216;I&#8217;m thinking this might be it for me in the sport&#8217; &#8211; owner considers quitting after horse mistakenly withdrawn at Lingfield<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__17__GlideArticleBody\"><a target=\"_self\" data-testid=\"Link__1711__GlideArticleBody\" id=\"249850\" class=\"sc-b2c32ca0-0 dLKaTt\" href=\"https:\/\/www.racingpost.com\/news\/fixture-list\/british-racecourse-attendance-down-in-first-half-of-2026-but-average-crowd-rises-as-cancelled-fixtures-take-toll-aivKJ5b9XPoj\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">British racecourse attendance down in first half of 2026 &#8211; but average crowd rises as cancelled fixtures take toll<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.racingpost.com\/_next\/image\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fs3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com%2Fprod-media-racingpost%2Fprod%2Fimages%2F169_1008%2F6f5510c9a941-on-the-nose.jpg&amp;w=3840&amp;q=75\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Text__20__GlideArticleBody\">Sign up to receive <a target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"Link__2012__GlideArticleBody\" id=\"on-the-nose\" class=\"sc-b2c32ca0-0 dLKaTt\" href=\"https:\/\/marketing-multisite.spotlightsportsgroup.com\/racingpost-landing-pages\/on-the-nose-racing-post\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">On The Nose<\/a>, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Click here to add us to your Google preferred sources or find out more here Donnacha O&#8217;Brien has&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-551435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}