ANA OBRIEN, daughter of all-conquering trainer Aidan and younger sister to Derby-winning rider Joseph, will break new ground on Saturday when becoming the first female jockey to ride in the Darley Irish Oaks. OBrien has been handed the ride on Beyond Brilliance, one of five contenders in the race trained by her father, who chases a fourth win in the race and a first since Moonstone made it three Irish Oaks wins in a row for the trainer in 2008. The 7lb claimer has built a good relationship with her Classic ride, who runs in the silks of her mother Anne-Marie, this year, partnering the filly in all but one of her ten starts this season and winning twice. On her latest run, Beyond Brilliance finished a close third to stablemate Palace in a Listed race at Killarney on July 14 and will face the same rival again on Saturday. OBrien, whose full name is Anastasia, partnered her first winner at the age of 16 when Fairylike, who like Beyond Brilliance is trained by Aidan and owned by Anne-Marie, landed an apprentice handicap at Dundalk in February of last year. She has ridden nine winners to date - five last year and four in 2014 - and completed her final secondary-school exams last month. The first and last female jockey to ride in an Irish Classic was Joanna Morgan, who finished unplaced on Riot Helmet in the 1976 Irish Derby.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 11:04:31 +0000
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