Benvenuto Cellini could be one to break Aidan O’Brien’s own world record in Hong Kong

Racing’s focus zeroes in on the National Hunt game from now on, but some time before 2026 ends it will switch to a potential new world record for Aidan O’Brien.

Officially crowned Ireland’s champion trainer for a 29th time when the domestic flat season finished on turf at the Curragh on Sunday, O’Brien’s triple Grade One haul at the Breeders’ Cup puts him on the verge of a new benchmark figure.

Benvenuto Cellini’s dramatic success in Saturday night’s $5 million (€4.5 million) Breeders’ Cup Turf put the Irishman on 28 Group/Grade One races so far this year, equalling his 2017 world record. It also puts him clear in Breeders’ Cup history with 24 wins in US racing’s biggest event of the year.

It’s an astonishing tally considering a low-grade infection among his Ballydoyle string meant Sun Goddess in the Phoenix Stakes was his sole top-flight winner throughout August.

Doubts about stable form continued into September, but a notable resurgence in recent weeks puts O’Brien on the verge of more history.

Last weekend, he saddled three Group One winners with the juveniles Giant Sequoia (Futurity) and Drumbeat (Criterium de Saint-Cloud) joining Queenstown in the Prix Royal-Oak.

A two-year-old double through Haffner and the prolific Sun Goddess at “Future Stars Friday” in Keeneland, Kentucky, continued the hot streak before an eighth career success in the Turf.

Options to reach 29 – or more – are running out. Germany has a Group One pot on Saturday in Munich’s Grosser Allianz Preis von Bayern, but O’Brien is a rare visitor to that country.

There are top-flight turf races such as the Hollywood Derby and the Matriarch Stakes in the US later this month. The 2025 dual-Derby hero Lambourn is an entry for the Bahrain International Trophy on November 13th, which has been promoted to Group One status. But it could ultimately be that Benvenuto Cellini is the one charged with managing it.

Next month’s Hong Kong International Carnival is on his radar as a final stop in 2026 before continuing his career as a four-year-old.

“That was the plan: to come here and go to Hong Kong. He’s going to be some four-year-old,” O’Brien said in Keeneland.

The 57-year-old Irishman has won the Hong Kong Vase three times, once with Mogul in 2020 and twice with Highland Reel (2015-17).

That Sha Tin race is over a mile-and-a-half, although there is also the Hong Kong Cup option at 10 furlongs. Having been so impressive on Saturday night, however, O’Brien may not be keen to drop in trip.

“We thought he ran a brilliant race and Ryan [Moore] gave him a brilliant ride. I’m so delighted for everybody,” said O’Brien, who also saddled Diamond Necklace to be third.

“Christophe [Soumillon] gave his filly a brilliant ride too. We weren’t sure about the mile-and-a-half with her. At a mile-and-a-quarter, she’s going to be brilliant. But [Benvenuto] got the trip well. With fast pace and good ground, he’s the class.

“Ryan was super cool on him. He was okay at the three-eighths, but he wasn’t that quick. But Ryan is so good. He worked it out. I thought he was brilliant on him. He had that explosion that we thought he could have and he had to have.”

Willie McCreery’s 25/1 outsider Jancis did best of the other Irish runners on Saturday night, finishing fast to claim third in the Filly & Mare Turf behind Kathynmarissa.

In other news, one trainer contemplating Saturday’s Group One German prize is Owen Burrows, with his smart older horse Gethin.

“He seems grand. I had a look at the entries the other day, and the horse of the Aga Khan’s, Varandir, who was a bit unlucky in the Arc, I would respect him if he turns up,” he said.

“I’m happy with Gethin, and he has been appreciating getting his toe in at home on the gallops. He has been freshened up as such, but he has not had a hard season. Hopefully it will be a nice spot for him.”

Gethin was beaten at odds-on in Kempton’s September Stakes. Burrows conceded he felt the horse threw away that race by hanging, but aims for different tactics in Munich.