Why Friday's maiden at the Curragh is one to keep a close eye on

Aidan O'Brien has sent out six of the last eight winners of the mile maiden for two-year-old colts and geldings at the Curragh on Friday (4.20).

Two of those, Imperial Monarch and Saxon Warrior, went on to gain Group 1 laurels, and two others, Yucatan and Sydney Opera House, would finish second at the highest level.

The other two, Ol' Man River and Beacon Rock, meanwhile won the Beresford Stakes and Gallinule Stakes respectively.

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It is safe to say, then, that the master of Ballydoyle's entrants in this year's renewal demand the utmost respect. He has three declared, all three by Galileo: the once-raced Mogul and newcomers Nobel Prize and Shoshone Warrior.

Mogul will likely start favourite after running second, albeit beaten more than five lengths by Geometrical, on debut at Gowran Park this month.

He can be sure to come on for the run as a brother to three high-class performers in Japan, Secret Gesture and Sir Isaac Newton, who were all also beaten on their first outings.

He is the tenth foal out of Shastye, a Listed-placed Danehill half-sister to Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe hero Sagamix whose best runner, Japan, has landed the King Edward VII Stakes, Grand Prix de Paris and Juddmonte International for O'Brien in recent weeks.

Secret Gesture was second in the Oaks, won the Middleton Stakes and was first past the post in the Beverly D Stakes but was demoted to third in controversial circumstances, while Sir Isaac Newton was successful at Group 3 level and gave Coolmore a Royal Ascot victory in the Wolferton Handicap.

Because of that high-achieving family, Coolmore had to stretch to 3,400,000gns to secure Mogul at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in 2018 – almost five years to the day after they gave 3,600,000gns for Sir Isaac Newton at the same auction.

Japan also cost the operation 1,300,000gns, with Shastye's total yearling sale receipts coming in at a scarcely believable more than 11 million for her owner Newsells Park Stud, who bought her as a breeding prospect through John Warren for 625,000gns.

Nobel Prize is, co-incidentally, another Galileo colt out of a Danehill mare and a brother to multiple Royal Ascot winners.

His dam Hveger – a Group 1-placed sister or half-sister to champions Elvstroem and Haradasun – has also clicked with Coolmore's multiple champion sire to produce the brilliant Highland Reel, who notched seven Group/Grade 1 successes, including in the Prince of Wales's Stakes and the Hong Kong Vase twice, and the classy Idaho, who took the Hardwicke Stakes two years ago.

In another eerie similarity with Mogul, Nobel Prize also has a Group 1-placed female sibling – in his case Valdemoro, a daughter of Encosta De Lago who ran second in the Storm Queen Stakes at Rosehill and Crown Victoria Oaks at Flemington in her native Australia.

Nobel Prize is a Coolmore homebred, Hveger having been imported to Ireland from Australia as a regular mate for Galileo.

O'Brien's third Galileo colt in Friday's race, Shoshone Warrior, is a half-brother to Middle Park Stakes winner Astaire out of Runway Dancer, an unraced Dansili half-sister to Gimcrack Stakes scorer Bannister.

Another of the dam's half-sisters, Roo, is the taproot of a flourishing female line that counts recent big-hitters Accidental Agent, Mohaather and Prize Exhibit among its members.

Shoshone Warrior was bred by Christopher Hanbury of Triermore Stud, and was bought by Coolmore's MV Magnier for €300,000 at last year's Goffs Orby Yearling Sale.

Ryan Moore takes the ride on Mogul, with Wayne Lordan on Nobel Prize and Shoshone Warrior receiving the assistance of Donnacha O'Brien in the saddle.

The Coolmore triumvirate won't have things all their own way, though, with a number of other intriguingly bred debutants in the race along with Shekhem, a Zoffany colt trained by Dermot Weld for the Aga Khan who finished a neck second to Innisfree at the Galway Festival last time out, the pair pulling clear.

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