O’Brien family sweeps four Group 1 races at The Curragh

Aidan O’Brien and sons Joseph and Donnacha combined to win all four Group 1 races at The Curragh on Sunday, completing a family sweep of the Irish Champions Festival’s second day.

Aidan trained the winners of the Moyglare Stud Stakes and Irish St Leger, Sun Goddess and Scandinavia. Donnacha won the Flying Five with Comanche Brave, while Joseph took the National Stakes with Folsom Blues.

The winners were sired by stallions that have shuttled to Australia: Sioux Nation, Wootton Bassett, Blue Point and Justify. The programme carried almost €2.5 million in total prize money.

Sun Goddess justified favouritism in the 1400-metre Moyglare, defeating her rivals by six and a half lengths under Ryan Moore. The Sioux Nation filly has now won five of seven starts, finishing second in the other two.

A £120,000 Goffs Premier UK Yearling Sale purchase, Sun Goddess races for the Coolmore partners. She was stretching beyond 1200 metres for the first time after winning the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes at The Curragh.

Folsom Blues, who had finished second to Sun Goddess in the Phoenix, won the National Stakes. Joey Sheridan held the Blue Point colt together before sending him clear to defeat Joseph O’Brien-trained stablemate Monogram by six lengths.

The result gave Al Shira’aa Racing its first homebred Group 1 winner. Folsom Blues has two wins and three placings from five starts, with the Dewhurst Stakes and a possible American campaign among his options.

Folsom Blues became his sixth Group 1 winner, one day after Blue Bolt won the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown.

Comanche Brave followed his July Cup success with a one-and-a-quarter-length win in the 1000-metre Flying Five under Billy Loughnane. The Wootton Bassett four-year-old began 2026 racing over 1600 metres in Abu Dhabi, but Donnacha O’Brien has progressively shortened his distances. He won his first attempt over 1000 metres for his second consecutive Group 1 victory.

Meanwhile. Scandinavia completed the sweep with a two-length Irish St Leger victory over stablemates Queenstown and Jan Brueghel, giving Aidan O’Brien the first three placings.

The Justify four-year-old has won eight consecutive races since July 2025 and now owns five Group 1 victories. His overall record stands at nine wins and two placings from 13 starts.

Justify shuttled to Coolmore Australia for five seasons. His sons City Of Troy and Storm Boy are standing at Coolmore Australia this spring for $49,500 and $16,500 respectively.