Favourite backers enjoyed a good time of things at the Curragh last Saturday afternoon, with five of the first six events on the card falling to the market leader. Odds-on favourite Minnie Hauk stole the headlines in the feature event of the Irish Oaks and looks set for a big autumn. As does the colt who grabbed his first win of 2025 in the Curragh Cup.
Sent to France to tackle the Arc in 2024, Al Riffa looks set to travel significantly further for this year’s big target, with a tilt at the valuable Melbourne Cup now on the agenda.
Proven Group 1 Performer
Hailing from the yard of Joseph O’Brien, Al Riffa burst onto the scene in a juvenile campaign that culminated in an impressive victory in the Group 1 National Stakes. Given that promise, his Classic season was something of a letdown, with two outings yielding two runners-up finishes in Group 2 and Group 3 company.
Kept in training at four, the son of Wootton Bassett came up short in the Prix Ganay, Manhattan Stakes, and Coral-Eclipse. However, his wait for a second Group 1 success finally came to an end with a five-length romp in the Grosser Preis von Berlin. A trip to Longchamp for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe ended in disappointment, but Al Riffa remained one of Joseph O’Brien’s leading lights heading into 2025.
Beaten over 1m2½f on his first two outings in the current campaign, Al Riffa hinted that he may be ready for a step up in trip. A fine staying on second behind Rebel’s Romance in the Hardwicke Stakes over 1m4f reinforced that impression and inspired a further step up in distance for his latest assignment.
Clear on Ratings, But Would He Handle the Trip?
Lining up in the 1m6f Curragh Cup, Al Riffa was the one they all had to beat on ratings – a mark of 118 placed him 10+ pounds clear of the other runners aged four and older. Aidan O’Brien’s Shackleton arrived with a rating of 104 and received an 11-pound weight-for-age allowance from Al Riffa, but that still left him with work to do.
Despite stepping into the unknown regarding the trip, punters were keen to side with Al Riffa’s proven class, seeing the mount of Dylan Browne McMonagle start as the 4/5 favourite.
Turning for home, Al Riffa looked to have a fight on his hands, as the runners fanned across the track to make their challenge. While he took a few strides to hit top gear, once he did, the race was over. Hitting the front a furlong and a half from home, the five-year-old had stormed five clear at the line to provide an emphatic answer to the stamina question.
Staying Targets
Despite that win in the Grosser Preis Von Berlin, recent outings suggest that Al Riffa may be just below the 1m4f elite on the British and Irish scene. As such, this success brings new targets into play over the remaining months of the season.
When outlining plans, stable representative Kevin Blake stated:
“I’d say it’s most likely that he’ll go straight to the Irish St Leger from here. There is a possibility of the Preis Von Berlin he won last year, but I’d say it’s more likely he’ll go straight to the Irish St Leger. The Melbourne Cup is in the mind thereafter.”
A Path Joseph Knows Well
As the son of the most successful Group 1 trainer in history, Joseph O’Brien faces a tall task in matching the exploits of the Ballydoyle master. However, he has already ticked one box on the international scene that his father hasn’t. Whilst success in the Melbourne Cup remains high on the wish list of Aidan O’Brien, Joseph has won the Australian showstopper not once, but twice – each time with a runner who previously claimed top spot in the Curragh Cup.
- Rekindling (2017) – Stepped up in trip following a flop in the Epsom Derby, Rekindling got up close home to deny the Willie Mullins-trained Wicklow Brave in the 2017 Curragh Cup. Sent to Melbourne on the back of that effort, he led home an Irish 1-2-3 in Australia’s biggest race, with the Aidan O’Brien-trained Johannes Vermeer in second, and the Willie Mullins runner Max Dynamite in third
- Twilight Payment (2020) – In contrast to the lightly raced three-year-old Rekindling, Twilight Payment had been around the block before grabbing the biggest win of his career as a seven-year-old. Unraced as a juvenile, he picked up Listed wins at three and five but waited until his six-year-old campaign to strike at Group level. Having successfully defended his Curragh Cup crown in 2020, Twilight Payment headed to Australia for a second crack at the Melbourne Cup. Only 11th when held up in 2019, this time he made all to score by half a length from another Aidan O’Brien runner, Tiger Moth
Could Al Riffa be the horse to hand Joseph O’Brien a third Melbourne Cup? He is currently trading as a general 16/1 co-favourite for the big race on Tuesday, 4th November.