O’Brien denies A Boy Named Susie sale, maps Breeders’ Cup plans

Donnacha O’Brien said A Boy Named Susie had not been sold and that there was “no deal” done, then used the same conversation to sketch a far bigger road map for his stable’s best horses. Comanche Brave, winner of the July Cup at Newmarket on July 11 at 11-1, is being lined up for Haydock, the Curragh Flying Five, the Abbaye and the Breeders’ Cup in November, a schedule that stretches the yard from Britain and Ireland to France and the United States.

The timing matters because O’Brien’s team has been flying. In the span of a fortnight, A Boy Named Susie was second in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on July 4 behind Constitution River, Balantina was third in the Falmouth, Kensington Lane won the Belmont Oaks, and Comanche Brave delivered the July Cup. That Newmarket victory was O’Brien’s second Group 1 win in a week and his 11th career Group 1 success, with five of his seven British winners now coming at the top level.

A Boy Named Susie’s form explains why the colt is still part of the discussion rather than a sales headline. Owned by Ana O’Brien, he has run seven times for one win and has built a résumé that already includes third in the Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown on April 12, fourth in the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly on May 31 and the Eclipse runner-up finish at Sandown. That kind of profile keeps him in the mix for late-summer and autumn targets, including races that reward a horse capable of handling miles and travel.

The wider international picture is already there in Balantina, who gave O’Brien his first Breeders’ Cup victory when she won the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on October 31 under Oisin Murphy. Comanche Brave brings another layer to that plan. He won the Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh on May 23, was seventh in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, then stepped forward to take the July Cup for owner Muhaideb A. Almuhaideb.

That autumn map now reaches beyond Europe. Racing Victoria has confirmed the 2026 Cox Plate will be run at Flemington on October 24 over 2040 meters, not at Moonee Valley, after redevelopment pushed the race to a one-off venue change. With the Breeders’ Cup still in view and the Cox Plate now fixed at Flemington, O’Brien’s best horses are being positioned on a schedule that could shape major fields on three continents.