Joseph O'Brien registers 1,000th Flat success Joseph O’Brien registered his 1,000th worldwide Flat success today, as the dual Melbourne Cup-winning trainer’s Frankel-sired Matrice (5/6f) landed Dundalk’s concluding Safer Gambling Week 2025 Fillies & Mares Maiden. A runner-up three times previously from seven runs, 74-rated three-year-old Matrice today scored readily by 1.25 lengths from 65-rated runner-up Dior Noir . O’Brien, whose big-race Flat winners include both Melbourne races, an Irish Derby and the Breeders Cup Fillies & Mares Turf, was notching the landmark success having sent out his first runners in June 2016. Today’s success by Matrice was also notable as owner/breeder Bob Scarborough had bred top performers St Mark’s Basilica and Magna Grecia from his Woodnook Farm for the trainer’s father Aidan O’Brien. Regarding Matrice, O'Brien's long-standing ally and winning jockey Declan McDonogh mentioned "the quick turnaround from Friday did Matrice no harm at all and she had got 1m4f on the grass before. I thought on Friday she just lost a little bit of concentration, so I said to Joseph we might just stick the cheekpieces on. "I thought even though it was a lesser race today, she ran straight and true. She went forward to the line without any hesitation. "She's a Frankel filly, so it was important to get the bracket and it is good to get the win. She seems to love the Polytrack, so she's versatile in ground conditions." Quotes from Michael Graham
