Aidan O'Brien Expands His Epsom Legacy with Minnie Hauk and Jan Brueghel
- Turf Diario
- Jun 7
- 2 min read
The trainer secured his eleventh Oaks win with a daughter of Frankel and also celebrated in the Coronation Cup with a brother to Sovereign
EPSOM DOWNS, Inglaterra (Special for Turf Diario).- It was another memorable afternoon for the Ballydoyle team Friday at Epsom Downs—one of many. It was a G1 double for Coolmore, trainer Aidan O’Brien, and jockey Ryan Moore, extending the momentum built the week prior with Camille Pissarro (Wootton Bassett) in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club in France, and setting the stage for a possible encore in Saturday’s G1 Epsom Derby, where they’ll be represented by three runners.
In the G1 Betfred Epsom Oaks, Minnie Hauk (Frankel) prevailed by a neck over stablemate Whirl (Wootton Bassett), giving O’Brien his record-extending eleventh victory in the fillies’ classic. Earlier on the card, it was Jan Brueghel(Galileo) who struck for Ballydoyle in the G1 Betfred Coronation Cup (2400m, good-to-soft turf), holding off Calandagan (Gleneagles) by a neck and denying him a first top-level win after four G1 runner-up finishes.
The Oaks produced a stirring finish. Whirl set the pace and made a valiant effort to fend off her stablemate in the stretch, but Minnie Hauk dug deep under Moore to get up late, stopping the clock in 2:38.91. Desert Flower (Night of Thunder), who captured the G1 1000 Guineas, lost her unbeaten record but was far from disgraced in third, beaten four lengths.
A full sister to Tilsit (First Defence), Minnie Hauk will now be aimed at the G1 Yorkshire Oaks, with a long-term goal of the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
In the Coronation Cup, Jan Brueghel bounced back from his lone career defeat with a gritty performance, taking advantage of a pace set by stablemate Continuous (Heart’s Cry) and surging to the front 350 meters out. He held firm from there as Calandagan tried in vain to reel him in.
A full brother to Sovereign, now at stud at Haras El Mallín in Argentina, Jan Brueghel secured the second G1 win of his career, having taken the historic G1 St Leger in 2024.
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