Causeway proves tough as teak in Gallinule

Aidan O’Brien still thinks there is plenty more to come from Causeway who extended his winning streak to four in the Heider Family Stables Gallinule Stakes at the Curragh.

The race can be sometimes used as a trial for the Irish Derby and despite not among among his key Classic contenders yet this season, Causeway is forcing his way into the squad.

A son of Wootton Bassett, he is never going to be flash and can make life hard for his jockey, but in Ryan Moore he has the perfect partner and the 5-6 favourite held off the late lunge of Zia Zabel by a head.

“We knew he’d stay very well. I left the cheekpieces off him today as he was going up to 10 furlongs, and he is very lazy,” said O’Brien.

“Ryan was very happy with him. We always thought as he went up (in trip) he would get better.

“He’s a lovely, honest-to-God, horse. Ryan gave him a lovely straightforward, uncomplicated, ride.”

The winner also holds an Irish Derby entry and when asked if he could go there, O’Brien said: “He could, obviously we’ll see what will happen in the next couple of weeks. He’s done his trial now.

“He’s a hardy boy and he’ll only ever do what he has to do. When the cheekpieces go back on they will be a help to him too.”

O’Brien and Moore, who won the afternoon’s feature Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas with Gstaad, also linked up to claim the opening Tally Ho Stud Irish EBF (C & G) Maiden with newcomer Sergei Diaghilev (4-6 favourite).

Another son of Wootton Bassett, he gave his handler a fourth-straight victory in a race won by the likes of Breeders’ Cup hero Unquestionable (2023) and French 2000 Guineas winner Henri Mattise (2024) and Brussels (2025) in recent years, but despite the taking nature of his success, he is far from certain to line-up at Royal Ascot.

“We’re delighted with him, he hadn’t done an awful lot of work,” said O’Brien.

“He only stepped into main work in the last two weeks and he did a nice piece of work last Saturday.

“We knew he’d be very green and there is probably a lot to come from him. It was a nice introduction for him.

“All the horses that we are trying to get out now could be Ascot horses but some of them will be too green and you’ll know when you run them if they won’t make it.

“I’m not sure with him. We ran him because we thought he could be a Coventry Stakes horse, Ryan wasn’t sure if he was going to know enough in time.

“Ryan said he’ll have no problem going seven. I’d imagine he’ll stick to six for the moment. He could improve so much.”

He added: “The horse that Jack (Cleary) rode (fourth-placed South Dakota) could be a Chesham horse but we’ll see what will happen after his run.”

As well as his three victories including Classic success for O’Brien, Moore also teamed up with his main trainer’s son Donnacha to win the Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes on Comanche Brave.