How good will Aidan O'Brien's weekend be as he goes for Magnificent Seven at Doncaster, Leopardstown and the Curragh

On the back of the big strike on Wednesday, as racing protests against treasury plans to raise taxes, there’s a plethora of top-class action at Doncaster, Leopardstown and the Curragh this weekend.

Those three tracks host seven Group Ones between them as the backend of the Flat season begins with a bang and one man could somewhat dominate proceedings.

What’s the big story?

Aidan O’Brien. Seven Group Ones up for grabs and the Ballydoyle maestro has chances in all of them.

Delacroix is a 5/4 shot in the Irish Champion. January is 3/1 for the Matron Stakes. Scandinavia (11/8) and Lambourn (3/1) ensure the firmest of grips on the St Leger. Illinois is 9/4 for the Irish version. Composing (11/8) and Gstaad (11/8) are red-hot favourites for the Moyglare and National Stakes, respectively. Even Whistlejacket (9/1) gives him a hand in the Flying Five.

Accumulative odds of his own version of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ taking place will be fairly big (backing his favourites in the above seven races is a 3900/1 chance), but, Flying Five aside, a weekend of O’Brien domination is almost expected.

Is Delacroix the real deal?

Hopefully we’ll find out in the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes. Until then, though, the jury is out.

It all comes down to how much faith you have in the son of Dubawi’s freakish win in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown in July. In some respects it was a remarkable performance, to come from where he did in the manner he did against a champion like Ombudsman. But you also have to acknowledge the shadow of doubt over the merit of that victory, given the way things panned out and the evidence of subsequent events at York.

The Juddmonte International, itself, of course, was also unsatisfactory in the way it was run, but at York Ombudsman left Delacroix trailing.

It’s a shame there is no Ombudsman at Leopardstown to settle that debate once and for all. But there is Anmaat, Shin Emperor and the potential of Zahrann, and they look a tricky enough set of rivals for Christophe Soumillon’s mount to see off, especially with those skinny odds in mind.

Is a ninth St Leger for AOB a formality?

If no Gosden representative in the Irish Champion Stakes is a disappointment what about no Clarehaven challenge in the Betfred St Leger?

Weirdly it is becoming the norm. While Gosden has won the Town Moor Classic on five occasions he has been represented in the race in only one of the last five renewals and that is giving O’Brien the chance to run up a sequence in the race.

Here he goes for a third win in a row and a ninth in total, the likelihood of him achieving those feats there for all to see given he trains half of the eight five-day entries including the two proven Group 1 winners at the top of the betting in Scandinavia and Lambourn.

Picking holes in them in the context of this race isn’t easy, for all that new jockeys that aren’t Ryan Moore will be entrusted with delivering the trophy.

The last three-year-old Goodwood Cup winner to tackle the St Leger was Stradivarius and in a warning to Scandinavia backers he could manage only third – and in a boost for Lambourn fans was beaten by the Irish Derby winner Capri.

Carmers is the biggest danger to O’Brien according to the market but with my each-way goggles on I still can’t believe the price discrepancy between Paddy Twomey’s horse and Roger Varian’s Rahiebb.

I thought he was unlucky to be beaten a length by Carmers in the Queen’s Vase and you can strike a line through his Gordon Stakes run, which wasn’t too bad in the circumstances, in the Goodwood gloom.

Roger Varian has a pretty good Leger record himself and this son of Frankel can outrun his odds, even if sinking all of the O’Brien battalion seems fanciful.

Can January justify O’Brien’s faith?

January hasn’t won a race since scoring at Tipperary in the August of her two-year-old career but the daughter of Kingman keeps on running well at the very top level and she could well go off favourite for the Coolmore America ‘Justify’ Matron Stakes at Leopardstown.

The problem is she often flatters to deceive. In fact, despite not winning in her last six races she has traded at in-running lows of 2.8, 1.52, 2.02, 1.12 and 3.6 on Betfair and yet again last time she travelled like the likely winner only to get outbattled late on in the Prix Rothschild at Deauville.

The horse who did the outbattling, Fallen Angel, is back for more in the Matron Stakes after last year’s second to Porta Fortuna and with an extra 2lb on her side I wouldn’t be surprised to see her give January the blues once again.

Will Illinois find one too good again?

With no Jan Brueghel in the Comer Group International Irish St. Leger at the Curragh on Sunday O’Brien goes into this one with Illinois who has his own defeats to bounce back from.

To be fair he has only been beaten by Trawlerman and Scandinavia on his last two starts and has not run a bad race in his 12-start career, his last nine performances all producing either a first or second place finish.

A big, strapping son of Galileo, he looks like a stayer and he’s clearly run to a good level over two miles and more, but I do think this drop in trip to 1m6f might just see him in a better light.

There was no shame in getting outstayed by Trawlerman at Ascot and Saturday may tell us he had a thankless task giving Scandinavia a stone at Goodwood.

Coming from a different angle you might also think he’s just short of the very top class, his G1 record now reading 32222, and if that’s the case then Joseph O’Brien’s Al Riffa might just be too good for him over a trip he seemed to stay very well at in the Curragh Cup back in July.

Personally, though, I think Illinois is capable of striking at Group 1 level granted the right set of circumstances. This could be his time.

Composing and Gstaad for the G1 juvenile double?

I certainly wouldn’t be laying it.

Composing looks a filly on an upward curve.

Getting better with racing, her career-best came in the Debutante Stakes at the Curragh last time and at the same track over the same seven-furlong distance further improvement is anticipated in the Moyglare Stud Stakes.

She certainly looked to have more in the tank if required when accounting for Suzie Songs last time.

Gstaad has a slightly different profile for all that he looks to be getting better with experience himself.

He lost very little in defeat in the Prix Morny last time at Deauville behind quality filly Venetian Sun, just being done for pace at a crucial point before he stayed on to be beaten a short neck.

That was on the back of 68 days off following a little setback, but it should’ve put him spot on for the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes and the step up to seven furlongs for the first time looks likely to suit him, too.

At least Aidan won’t win the Flying Five will he?

Surely Whistlejacket won’t be good enough, for all that he’s unexposed over the five furlongs.

Asfoora looks a worthy favourite but she has won just two of her last seven races and that Nunthorpe victory at York last time was not advertised by the second and seventh home when they turned out again in the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock last weekend.

No, this could yet again be a Group 1 sprint won by a different horse and whose turn could it be this time?

Perhaps Bucanero Fuerte who goes so well at the Curragh?

Perhaps Art Power can reverse last time out form with Bucanero and rekindle his own love affair with this track?

Perhaps the Nunthorpe form will be turned on its head with one of Night Raider, Arizona Blaze, Mgheera or She’s Quality coming to the fore this time?

Perhaps Two Stars can build on the promise he showed in the spring?

As so often has been the case in this year’s top-level sprints, there are more questions than answers.

So is the Champagne on ice for Aidan?

It remains to be seen how many times Aidan O’Brien will strike in the seven Group Ones this weekend.

But, despite having slight reservations over Delacroix and January, I wouldn’t be comfortable in laying any bets on ‘more than four’.

And finally, on the St Leger undercard at Doncaster, there is the small matter of the Group 2 Betfred Champagne Stakes and, while Gewan will be trying to do his best impression of Chaldean again, O’Brien’s Italy will have sights on reversing Acomb Stakes form with him.

Too keen in the early stages at York, Italy ran a fantastic race to finish a one-and-a-half length second to Andrew Balding’s horse and if he can just settle a little better on Town Moor he might just land a third Champagne Stakes for O’Brien.

Either way, for all of his big guns running this weekend, Italy might be the most important horse of his in action with 2026 in mind.

A handful of Group Ones and a Champagne pointer to the future? I’m sure O’Brien would drink to that.

How good will Aidan O’Brien’s weekend be as he goes for Magnificent Seven at Doncaster, Leopardstown and the Curragh

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