AIDAN & ANNEMARIE O’BRIEN, Whisperview Trading

Porta Fortuna (Ire), 2021 f. by Caravaggio out of Too Precious, by Holy Roman Emperor

PREVIOUS winners of the Connolly’s Red Mills/the Irish Field Flat Breeder of the Year Award, Aidan and Annemarie O’Brien are back with another monthly nomination. This time it is for Porta Fortuna, trained by their son Donnacha, and now winner of seven of her 11 starts, with earnings of over £1.3 million.

At two Porta Fortuna was successful at Newmarket in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes. This year she has run up a sequence of three Group 1 wins, the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket, and the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown.

In addition to her wins, she finished runner-up in the Group 1 1000 Guineas, Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and Group 1 Phoenix Stakes, and the only time she was out of the first two was when dead-heating for third in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes.

Porta Fortuna was owned by Annemarie O’Brien when she won her first start, is a son of Caravaggio who was trained by Aidan, and is the first foal out of a mare who was trained by Joseph O’Brien. The filly’s third dam Kantikoy was purchased by Annemarie in 2003 at Goffs for €10,000.

Kantikoy is a half-sister to the Group 3 winner and classic-placed Kithanga, herself dam of the Group 1 St Leger winner and Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf runner-up Milan (Sadler’s Wells).

DAVID & DIANE NAGLE, Barronstown Stud

Jan Brueghel (Ire), 2021 c. by Galileo out of Devoted To You, by Danehill Dancer

ANOTHER couple who won the Connolly’s Red Mills/The Irish Field Breeder of the Year Award, they did so in its inaugural year, David and Diane Nagle have bred yet another in a long list of Group 1 and classic winners, this time with the unbeaten Jan Brueghel, now a leading fancy for the Group 1 Melbourne Cup.

Success in the Group 1 St Leger at Doncaster for Jan Brueghel gave the late Galileo his 101st winner at the highest level, and the colt is the second classic winner after Sovereign for his dam, the Group 2-placed Devoted To You. A full-brother to Jan Brueghel, Sovereign won the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby.

Their dam Devoted To You carried the colours of Diane Nagle to a maiden success at Galway, before running second to Lillie Langtry in the Group 2 Debutante Stakes at Leopardstown, was runner-up in the Group 3 Lodge Park EBF Park Express Stakes at the Curragh, and divided Famous Name and Choose Me when second in the Listed Trigo Stakes back at Leopardstown.

Sovereign and Jan Brueghel are not the first classic winners in the immediate removes of this female line.

Their third dam bred Balanchine, and she added the Group 1 Irish Derby to a prior success in the Group 1 Oaks at Epsom and a second place finish in the Group 1 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.

EVA-MARIA BUCHER-HAEFNER, Moyglare Stud Farm

Kyprios (Ire), 2018 c. by Galileo out of Polished Gem, by Danehill

WHAT a very special horse Kyprios is, and a credit to a previous Connolly’s Red Mills/The Irish Field Flat Breeder of the Year winner, Moyglare Stud.

One of just three horses ever to regain the Group 1 Gold Cup crown at Royal Ascot, Kyprios took his tally of wins to 14 when he added the Group 1 Goodwood Cup for a second time, as well as the Group 1 Irish St Leger and Group 1 Prix du Cadran, each for a second time. His winnings are approaching £2.4 million.

Kyprios is the third Group 1 winner for Polished Gem. Prior to Kyprios, her best offspring were the dual Group 1 Irish St Leger winner Search For A Song, and Group 1 winner and Anngrove Stud sire Free Eagle.

You can add to that list Group 2 winners Custom Cut and Sapphire, Group 3 winner Valac, and stakes winners Falcon Eight and Amma Grace.

From a family that has a long history with Moyglare Stud, almost matching the time since the farm was founded, Polished Gem has an impeccable record as a producer – 10 foals, runners and winners. Eight of these won stakes races.

Polished Gem is a winning daughter of Danehill and the classic winner Trusted Partner.

Both Trusted Partner and her dam, Talking Picture, produced 11 winners each. Talking Picture was champion two-year-old filly in the USA and won the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes and Grade 1 Matron Stakes.

JOHN MAGNIER, Coolmore

Lake Victoria (Ire), 2022 f. by Frankel out of Quiet Reflection, by Showcasing

LAST year’s Connolly’s Red Mills/The Irish Field Flat Breeder of the Year winner, John Magnier is the fourth such honouree to be nominated this month. He and his partners in Coolmore bred Lake Victoria, and she earns the nomination for her win in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes. Since then, she has added the Group 1 Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes to her tally, and she is undefeated in four starts.

The family of Lake Victoria has been lifted out of the ordinary, mating the great Frankel with the dual Group 1-winning sprinter Quiet Reflection has given us arguably the leading juvenile filly in Europe. M.V. Magnier secured Quiet Reflection for 2,100,000gns, having won the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and the Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup at three.

Quiet Reflection was a group winner every year she raced. She won three of her four starts at two, ending her first season with an easy win in the Group 3 Dubai Cornwallis Stakes at Newmarket. At four she travelled to Naas for the Group 3 Renaissance Stakes, and emerged victorious.

Mated with Galileo, she had three foals and two winners, Bluegrass who finished third to the Derby winner Desert Crown in the Group 2 Dante Stakes, and this year’s winner, The Equator. Lake Victoria is Quiet Reflection’s fourth produce.

Coolmore and partners will be delighted to know that the yearling and foal out of Quiet Reflection, both colts, are full-brothers to Lake Victoria, now the favourite for next year’s 1000 Guineas.