O'Brien doubles-up with 'above average' Albuquerque After the success of Chablis in the opener, Aidan O'Brien quickly doubled-up with Albuquerque in the Join The Gowran Park Racing Club Today Maiden. A full-brother to three time Group 1 winner Rip Van Winkle, the bay colt finished down the field on debut at Leopardstown in May. Having opened on-course at 9/1, he came in for plenty of market support, and went off a 6/1 chance under Seamie Heffernan. Settled in third on the inner, he squeezed through to challenge front-running stable mate Empire State from the furlong pole, getting to the front inside the final 100 yards, before going on to score by a neck. Empire State proved friendless with punters, and having opened on-course at 7/4, he eventually went off the 3/1 market leader under Donnacha O'Brien. Newcomer Georgeville (9/2) ran a fine race to take third, another three parts of a length back under Declan McDonogh for Dermot Weld. Heffernan said afterwards: "He's a brother to Rip Van Winkle. He had a nice run the first day and I liked him today. It was tight enough but I always had enough room. "He's above average." Additional reporting by Alan Magee
