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'Perfect' O'Brien Horse Ready for the Irish 2000 Guineas

irishracing.com news

irishracing.com news

Leopardstown 16-May-2025Italy and Wayne Lordan win for trainer Aidan O'Brien.Healy Racing.
© Healy Racing Photos

Legendary trainer Aidan O’Brien has won the Irish 2000 Guineas a whopping 12 times since 1997 and he holds the record for the most wins in the race’s illustrious history. Unsurprisingly, he has another strong crop of three-year-olds that could line up for him this year..

Amongst them is the lightly raced and progressive Officer, who won comfortably in Listed company over course and distance last time out.

The Curragh’s first Classic of the season is shaping up to be a cracking race so we’ve had a close look at Officer’s profile.

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  • Perfect pedigree

    Most Aidan O’Brien-trained horses are impeccably bred but that is particularly true in Officer’s case. Winning Group 1 races over a mile is definitely in his blood as one parent won this very race back in 2005 and the other was victorious in the Matron Stakes.

    Dubawi is one of the most desired stallions in the business these days and it’s easy to see why. Coolmore have had success sending their Galileo mares to him in recent seasons and Officer is a good example of that.

    Dam Hydrangea was an exceptional filly for the same connections in her racing days and managed to win two races at the top level. The aforementioned Matron Stakes was the first and she also went on to take the Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes over 1m4f.

    A winner on his sole start at two

    Officer made the perfect start to his career when coming out on top in a 7f maiden at the Curragh back in August. Slow to get going, that proved to be no obstacle, as Ryan Moore quickly sent him to the front.

    Moore pushed the button with a furlong or so to go and he went on to score by a cosy half-a-length. It’s always a promising sign when an O’Brien juvenile wins first time out as they tend to need the experience..

    It’s very difficult to knock the form of that maiden either as the next four horses home have all won since. Storm Piece finished second and he won a maiden at Gowran in very good style recently. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see Officer for the rest of the season but the signs have been positive so far in 2025.

    Clear signs of progress this season

    Officer produced a very solid performance on seasonal debut in a Listed 7f contest at the Curragh in March. O’Brien’s colt was up against older horses on his first start since August and was clearly learning on the job.

    Curragh 5-May-2025Officer and Ryan Moore win for owners Coolmore and trainer Aidan O'Brien.Healy Racing
    © Healy Racing Photos

    Only just losing out on second in the closing stages, only Group 1-winning stablemate Camille Pissarro and the vastly experienced winner Big Gossey proved too good and it was obvious that he would improve for the run.

    A return to winning ways came when upped to a mile in the Tetrarch Stakes next time as he comfortably got the better of the useful Currawood. Obviously he’ll need to step forward again now going into a Group 1 but there could be any amount of improvement still to come.

    Could Classic success be on the cards?

    The Irish 2000 Guineas is going to be a very tough race to win this year and may even be hotter than the English equivalent at Newmarket earlier this month. O’Brien earmarked Officer for the race, however, and clearly thinks he’s up to competing at this level.

    British raiders Field Of Gold and Cosmic Year both add a lot of class and potential to the field and the latter has a similar profile to Officer.

    The market suggests that Officer is O’Brien’s best chance of a 13th Irish 2000 Guineas success and he has earned his place in the field.

    3.401m. 9 Declared.
    Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas (Group 1) of €500,000.00 3-y-o