Racing:Jamie Spencer guided the Aiden O'Brien trained Cape Blanco to a comfortable victory in the Arlington Million last night. Having won the Man o'War Stakes, beating top US turf performer Gio Ponti, Cape Blanco confirmed the form with a two-and-a-half-length win.
The win was a redemption for Spencer after he was first past the post in the race back in 2005 on O’Brien’s Powerscourt but was disqualified for causing interference, for which he came in for some criticism in the States.
“I try not to dwell on the past. Mine is pretty colourful, so I try not to dwell but to look at the future,” he said.
O’Brien had further reason to celebrate when Colm O’Donoghue partnered Treasure Beach to victory in the Secretariat Stakes. Having been part of the furniture at Ballydoyle for some time, big rides had always eluded O’Donoghue in the past.
However, with Aidan O’Brien choosing not to employ a stable jockey and with Ryan Moore, his go-to man for the big occasion, out injured, O’Donoghue has come in for more and more opportunities.
After riding Treasure Beach to victory in the Irish Derby he has kept the ride and was always in the perfect position to beat Alain De Royer-Dupre’s Ziyarid by a neck.
“I wanted to get the best position possible,” said O’Donoghue. “I wasn’t too sure if there was going to be a whole lot of pace in the race, so I would have been happy to make the running myself. But I felt that the pace was consistent throughout, I thought Christophe (Lemaire) gave a perfect pace.
“He came back from France well and conditions were perfect today. I think he goes in anything really.”
When asked if a Grade One success in America was important for the horse, Coolmore representative Charlie O’Connor said: “Absolutely. Being a son of Galileo that is the goal, to make these horses stallions.
“Colm is a fantastic jockey, he has tons of experience and we are lucky to have him. I thought he gave the horse an excellent ride today. And they had to do it the hard way, you know. They crawled. We would have much preferred a better pace in the race. He is a real good horse.
“He has won over the different distances which is the sign of a very, very good horse.”