Aidan O'Brien's two-time Group 1-winning filly Whirl retired to stud

January 16, 2026

Aidan O’Brien’s two-time Group 1 winner Whirl has been retired to stud.

A breakout star in her Classic campaign, Whirl rose to the very top with a neck runner-up to stablemate Minnie Hauk in the Epsom Oaks before it was her turn at top-level prizes.

The Wootton Bassett filly had her hands on a Group 1 just three weeks later, a game winner of the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh when turning over odds-on favourite Kalpana – who was later second to Calandagan in the King George at Ascot, also the subsequent winner of the Champion Stakes and Japan Cup.

Group 1 glory!

Whirl strikes from Kalpana in a thrilling €300,000 @paddypower Pretty Polly Stakes for Ryan Moore, Aidan O’Brien and Ballydoyle 👏 @curraghrace pic.twitter.com/76Eys2rB3i

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) June 28, 2025

She progressed once again with victory in the Nassau Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, making all the running in good style on her first encounter with heavy ground and emerging as a key player in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe picture.

Whirl moved on to the Prix Vermeille at Longchamp in September, a primary trial for Europe’s richest race and despite being sent off a warm order at 1/2 on the day she was well beaten and finished last of six runners.

That defeat unearthed a few abnormalities and she suffered an unfortunate injury that ultimately led to her retirement, closing out with a Timeform rating of 121 – the second-best three-year-old filly on the planet behind Minnie Hauk.

It has been rumoured she could soon visit brand-new stallion Delacroix, another two-time Group 1 winner in the Irish Champion Stakes and Coral Eclipse.

Whirl is of utmost importance to her owners at Coolmore who run a world-leading bloodstock empire, the most successful daughter of the late Wootton Bassett.