Aidan O'Brien stars dominate 2025 European 2yo rankings

January 20, 2026

Aidan O’Brien dominated the European two-year-old rankings for another year headlined by runners-up Gstaad and Puerto Rico.

The Ballydoyle handler had to settle for a joint-second as Andrew Balding’s Dewhurst Stakes winner Gewan (121) topped the list, a surprise winner of the Newmarket showpiece in October at 25/1.

O’Brien‘s top duo were awarded marks of 119 each. Gstaad, beaten less than a length in the Dewhurst, rounded off an impressive season with top-level glory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

He had previously contracted a bout of seconditis, also chinned by Zavateri in the National Stakes at the Curragh on Irish Champions Weekend after Venetian Sun took the spoils in the Prix Morny at Deauville.

His Coventry Stakes triumph at Royal Ascot was one of the most exciting performances of the week and the son of Starspangledbanner is 12/1 for the 2000 Guineas in May.

Gstaad’s stablemate Puerto Rico was more of a late bloomer through the year, coming into his own when stepped up in trip – beaten on each of his first five starts over six furlongs.

His first try at seven in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster saw him trump Gewan by four lengths and he went on to land the prestigious Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp on Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe weekend.

Puerto Rico put the cherry on top of a spectacular autumn with success in the Criterium International and Saint-Cloud and he’s the same price as Gstaad for the 2000 Guineas.

Dewhurst Stakes winner Gewan has been crowned the 2025 European Champion Juvenile with a rating of 121 🏆

Gewan leads Ballydoyle pair Gstaad and Puerto Rico in the European 2yo Classification, which has been published today: https://t.co/w4CfkuVgY7 pic.twitter.com/I4nZeFlCHI

— British Horseracing Authority (@BHAHorseracing) January 20, 2026

Hawk Mountain (116) made the top five, a tough winner of the Futurity Trophy Stakes at Doncaster on heavy ground in late October and the runner-up that day Action (115) took his place in behind again.

O’Brien led the way in girl power with the two highest-rated fillies in the rankings thanks to Precise and True Love at 115 apiece.

Precise enjoyed an emphatic year, leaving her debut defeat behind her to win four on the bounce including two Group 1s in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh and Newmarket’s Fillies’ Mile.

She was widely regarded as one of the bankers of the meeting at the Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar, short favourite for the Juvenile Fillies Turf before being scratched due to an infection.

True Love landed the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot and the top-level Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket in September, also a disappointing favourite in the Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar.

O’Brien trained Europe’s Champion Juvenile Filly for the third year in a row, and a ninth in total, following Lake Victoria and Opera Singer in previous seasons.