AUDAN O'BRIEN V CHRIS WALLER: THE NEXT MOVE WITH A WORLD RECORD ON THE LINE

By Graham Potter | Thursday, November 12, 2026

Trainer Aidan O’Brien’s Epsom and Irish Derby winner Lambourn will be partnered by Ryan Moore in the Group 1 Bahrain International Trophy on Friday as the Coolmore team strive to help O’Brien secure what would be a record breaking twenty-ninth Group 1 win in a calendar year.

O’Brien equalled the record of twenty-eight Group 1 wins he set back in 2017 with his win in the Breeders’ Cup on October 31, so he is currently looking to break new ground.

One day later, on Saturday, trainer Chris Waller, who is snapping at O’Brien’s heels with a current total of twenty-seven Group 1 winners for the year, will send out a two-pronged attack in the Group 1 C.F. Orr Stakes at Sandown in the form of Beiwacht, the race favourite, and Angel Capital.

While the C. F. Orr is no ‘gimme’ for Waller, it does appear that his stable might have the easier of the two tasks, although putting the likes of Jimmysstar and Pericles away is never an easy play.

The fact is though, that Lambourn is up against, amongst others, the three runners who filled the first three places in last year’s Bahrain International Trophy … Royal Champion, Galan and Military Order.

Galan is trained by Joseph O’Brien. It wouldn’t be the first time that the son has denied the father.

If the C.F. Orr Stakes results go the Waller way and Lambourn doesn’t get up for Aidan O’Brien, a tight contest between these two champion trainers would have just got more intense with O’Brien and Waller leaving the weekend all square on twenty-eight wins, with a new world record still beckoning and only a month-and-a-half left until the 2026 standings are finally decided.