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The Historic MilestoneAidan O’Brien has achieved the unthinkable in British horse racing, becoming the first trainer to saddle a century of winners at Royal Ascot. This monumental achievement was cemented on Thursday as his eight-year-old gelding Scandinavia defied a brave challenge from defending champion Trawlerman to win the Gold Cup. The victory marks the 100th winner for O’Brien at the meeting, a feat first achieved by Sir Michael Stoute in 2023 but now surpassed by the Ballydoyle maestro.A Tactical Masterclass in the Gold CupThe race was a tactical masterpiece that showcased the synergy between trainer and jockey. Ridden by Ryan Moore, Scandinavia overcame a lack of a prep run to defeat Trawlerman by a head. The victory was particularly sweet as it came against a field of seasoned stayers, with the runner-up attempting to become only the second eight-year-old winner since 1900.Surpassing the Record BooksO’Brien’s dominance is statistically staggering and highlights the structural strength of the Ballydoyle operation. While Sir Michael Stoute held the record with 82 winners, O’Brien has now eclipsed that total. His closest active rival, John Gosden, sits on 72 winners.Record Breaker: O’Brien is the first trainer to reach 100 winners at Royal Ascot.Active Rivals: John Gosden (72) is the closest active rival, while Sir Michael Stoute (82) was the previous record holder.Trainers' Titles: O’Brien has won the meeting's title 13 times compared to Gosden's 4.Market Confidence: Scandinavia started as an 11-8 favorite, backed by a reported £120,000 bet.The O’Brien Dynasty and MentorshipThis achievement highlights the generational shift in British racing leadership. O’Brien credits the team, including jockey Ryan Moore, for the success. The rivalry is shifting internally, with his son Joseph O’Brien emerging as a potential challenger for the trainers' title. The passing of the torch from Stoute to O’Brien represents a new era of dominance at the royal meeting.Looking Ahead to the Next CenturyWith Scandinavia established as the new king of the staying division, O’Brien shows no signs of slowing down. The trainer’s mindset, as described by Ryan Moore, is focused on the next challenge rather than resting on past laurels. As long as Scandinavia remains sound, he is a strong contender for future Gold Cups, and O’Brien is likely to continue adding to his tally for years to come.

The betting market for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 2 was thrown into confusion on Tuesday morning when two significant candidates from the Aidan O'Brien stable, Gstaad and Albert Einstein, were taken out of the race, apparently as the result of a computer error.Gstaad, the winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar in November, was priced up at around 6-1 for the season's first Classic on Tuesday morning, and seen as potentially the Ballydoyle first string for a race that the stable has won a record 10 times.Gstaad assumed the role of O'Brien's No 1 contender after Albert Einstein, the winner of his first two starts as a juvenile in 2025 but unraced beyond May due to injury, finished only sixth of 10 runners on his three-year-old debut in a Listed race at the Curragh three days ago.Despite that reverse, however, and a subsequent suggestion that Albert Einstein might revert to sprinting with the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot as an initial target, the colt was still priced up at 20-1 for the 2,000 Guineas and O'Brien intended to confirm both two-year-olds at the latest declaration stage on Tuesday.O'Brien told the Press Association on Tuesday that both Gstaad and Albert Einstein had been scratched as the result of “a computer error”, adding: “We're trying to get them back in.”The trainer expanded on his explanation, saying: “There was a blip on the computer. Something happened, the computer went bananas and took out a couple of horses that weren’t meant to be taken out.The 2,000 Guineas has a supplementary entry stage, six days before the race, when either or both of the excluded runners could be added back into the Classic at a cost of £30k, and O'Brien later suggested that is now the likeliest route for Gstaad and Albert Einstein.In the initial aftermath of Tuesday's declaration stage, Bow Echo and Publish, first and second respectively in the Ascendant Stakes at Haydock in September, moved to the head of the market as 4-1 joint-favourites, from odds of around 6-1 overnight.