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The cream of the crop of O’Brien’s Royal Ascot century
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Thu 18 Jun 2026
Aidan O’Brien has become the first trainer to reach 100 winners at Royal Ascot.
Here, the Press Association take a look at some of the best and most significant success stories at the Royal meeting during his quest for three figures.
Harbour Master
Although far from the most decorated performer to descend on Ascot from Ballydoyle, he is arguably the most significant given he got O’Brien off the mark under Christy Roche in the 1997 Coventry Stakes, a race the master trainer has gone on to win a record 12 times.
A young Aidan O’Brien (Daniel Hambury/PA)
Giant’s Causeway
The ‘Iron Horse’ became O’Brien’s first Group One winner at the meeting when putting defeat in both the 2000 Guineas and Curragh equivalent behind him in the St James’s Palace Stakes in 2000.
It was a win that would kick-start a five-race winning run at the top level in a season that would culminate with agonising defeat in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Giant’s Causeway winning at Royal Ascot (Sean Dempsey/PA)
Rock Of Gibraltar
In contrast to Giant’s Causeway, Rock Of Gibraltar headed to the 2002 St James’s Palace Stakes as a dual Classic winner and the leading performer of his generation at a mile.
Running in the colours of then Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, he was a horse that crossed over into the wider sporting spectrum and delivered a breathtaking display to scorch clear of his rivals in the opening day feature in the hands of Mick Kinane.
Rock Of Gibraltar and Mick Kinane on their way to the start at Ascot (John Walton/PA)
Yeats
The only four-time winner of the Gold Cup, it is one of O’Brien’s finest achievements to return the great staying son of Sadler’s Wells primed to perfection each year.
He matched the achievement of Sagaro when winning his third straight Gold Cup in 2008, only to go one better when making history in style a year later, the final victory in an exceptional career that yielded 15 wins from 26 starts.
Yeats was unbeatable at Royal Ascot (Sean Dempsey/PA)
So You Think
Dual Cox Plate hero So You Think had carried all before him for Bart Cummings in Australia when he was switched to O’Brien to cement his legacy with a top-level victory in Europe in 2011.
His only defeat in his first five starts for Ballydoyle would come when agonisingly denied by Rewilding in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes that year, but he would correct the record a year later when ending his career on a high in the same race.
So You Think edged out Carlton House to win the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (David Davies/PA)
Auguste Rodin
A son of Japanese Triple Crown hero Deep Impact, Auguste Rodin had already established himself as one of the best around by the time he arrived at the Prince of Wales’s Stakes in 2024.
A dual Derby, Irish Champion Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Turf champion at three, he returned at four to cement his legacy and did so on the biggest stage, providing O’Brien with his 400th worldwide top-level winner in the process.
Aidan O’Brien with the Prince of Wales after his 400th top-level winner (David Davies/PA)
Kyprios
No trainer has won the Gold Cup as many times and his guiding of Kyprios showcased every inch of his brilliance.
The son of Galileo had announced himself as the standout performer of the staying division in 2022, with Gold Cup victory among an unbeaten run of six that year before injury curtailed dreams of further cementing his dominance in 2023.
After two outings in defeat at the backend of 2023, he would reclaim his crown in style the following season again embarking on a phenomenal winning sequence that would see him unbeaten until his retirement following a further injury prior to the Royal meeting 12 months ago.
Kyprios was a dual winner of the Gold Cup (David Davies/PA)
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