Tony McFadden highlights some very well-bred juveniles set to make their debut for Aidan O'Brien this weekend.
There are some well-bred juveniles in the opening seven-furlong maiden (13:30) at the Curragh on Saturday - a race subsequent Group 1 winners Al Riffa and Mac Swiney have contested in recent years - but none takes the eye on paper more than Henry Longfellow, the first foal out of champion racemare Minding to take to the racecourse.
No horse trained by Aidan O'Brien has won more Group 1s than Minding, whose tally of seven equalled the benchmark set by Rock of Gibraltar and Yeats (Magical subsequently reached the same figure).
Minding is one of only three fillies this century to have won the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Oaks at Epsom (Kazzia and Love are the others) and was the first filly since Milligram in 1987 to win the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.
A peak Timeform rating of 127, earned for that QEII victory over Ribchester, identifies Minding as one of O'Brien's highest-rated fillies, behind only Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Found (129) and Magical (128).
Interest was always going to be high in Minding's progeny as, in addition to her exploits on the track, she boasts an exceptional pedigree being a daughter of Galileo out of a dual Group 1 winner in Lillie Langtry.
Minding is one of three classic winners by Galileo out of Lillie Langtry as her sister Tuesday also won the Oaks, while Empress Josephine won the Irish 1000 Guineas.
Henry Longfellow, who is by Dubawi, will be joined by stablemate Master of The Hunt in Saturday's maiden, while O'Brien also has a couple of regally-bred newcomers in the seven-furlong fillies' maiden (14:00) at the Curragh on Sunday.
Grateful is by Galileo out of the multiple top-level winner Tepin who was a champion racemare in North America and was also successful in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Mayfair, the mount of Ryan Moore, is also out of a Group 1 winner in Clemmie, who herself hails from an excellent family being a sister to Churchill who won four Group 1s including the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Irish equivalent at the Curragh.
Mayfair - who is by Justify, the sire responsible for City of Troy and Ramatuelle, the leading juvenile colt and filly this season - is a sister to Unless who was fourth in the Sandringham Handicap at Royal Ascot last month and second in a listed race at Killarney earlier this week. She is one of two unraced fillies O'Brien entered for the Sky Bet Lowther at York.
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