O’Brien salutes Minding
AIDAN O’BRIEN has paid tribute to the brilliant Minding following her retirement from racing. The daughter of Galileo struck at Group One level on seven occasions, including Classic wins in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Investec Oaks at Epsom last season. O’Brien said: ‘She was an incredible filly and was one of the best fillies I have trained. What she did was just incredible because she ran at the top level between a mile and a mile and a half as a three-yearold. To win five Group Ones at three is amazing. ‘She had the most brilliant physique and a wonderful pedigree. Above all, it was her mind that made her special because she was such a pleasure to deal with and had a brilliant attitude.’ Minding rounded off her three-year-old campaign when beating Ribchester in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot and was hugely impressive on her reappearance at Naas in the Mooresbridge Stakes. However, a subsequent setback ruled her out for the summer and eventually forced connections to call time on her career. ‘She injured her pastern and John (Halley, vet) just wasn’t happy for her to resume training yet,’ O’Brien continued. ‘At this stage, we felt it would be a bit of a struggle to get her back for the remainder of the season so the lads decided the best option was to retire her. ‘It was just going to take too much time with her, and while she will be absolutely fine, we felt that we were just running out of time for this season.’ Minding won nine of 13 starts and £2,344,930 in prize-money and will now take up broodmare duties.