Champion Trainer Aidan O'Brien equalled his best ever Irish yearly flat winners total at Gowran today with the win of Aircraft Carrier in the Racing Again November 24th Maiden.

Aircraft Carrier, and Seamie Heffernan, today finished well to edge past runner-up War Diary near the line and score a short-head success and give trainer O'Brien his 139th success of 2018.

O'Brien finished 2013 with a record 139 Irish flat winners but is now certain to beat that tally, with three weeks of the turf season left, followed by two months racing on the all-weather at Dundalk.

O'Brien wasn't present at the meeting and regarding Aircraft Carrier, jockey Heffernan later said “he came forward a little bit and handles both types of ground which is a plus. He’s very relaxed and going further would help him a lot.”

Quotes from Alan Magee