Red-hot trainer Adrian Keatley is aiming for the £100.00 All-Weather Horse of the Year title with Aisling Oscar after taking his seventh successive win at Newcastle last week.
The five-year-old was bought from Irish trainer Craig O’Neill for just 3,200 guineas in September and finished third on his stable debut at Wolverhampton. He hasn’t looked back, winning seven times at Gosforth Park between late November and last Thursday.
Aisling Oscar received the £20,000 prize for being crowned December’s All-Weather Bonus Horse of the Month. He has since won three times in January and has the option of bidding to extend his winning streak at Southwell on Friday night, but Keatley is keen to give his leadership a short break after a hectic schedule.
He said: “We won’t be running him on Friday. We will go through the program over the next few days and map out a plan for him in February.”
“He is very easy to do everything with, he loves his food and loves life at the moment.
“His performance and the pattern of the racing program for him in December and January was perfect with student racing and everything else so we could stay a little bit ahead of the handicapper.”
The All-Weather Bonus Program started on October 21 and ends on Good Friday, April 3, with more than £1 million available to owners, trainers, jockeys and racing staff associated with the most consistent performers across ARC’s four all-weather racecourses.
Keatley added: “Life will get harder for him in February but if he can keep winning then it will be brilliant and even if he can place consistently he has now laid the foundations for the rankings.
“That will be our main focus with him, to try and get as many points as possible between now and Good Friday.”
Aisling Oscar’s victories have contributed to a sensational start to 2026 for the Ryedale handler, with his last seven runners in Britain all taking gold.
When asked what he thought led to the excellent stable form, Keatley said: “It must be the luck of the Irish!
“Eight of our last nine runners have won and our main focus now is to keep this going all year long.
“They are the right horses in the right races and the races come at the right time for them, that’s it.
“They are healthy and well, that is the most important thing.”
The trainer’s most recent winner was Indian River, who after completing a hat-trick over hurdles at Sedgefield on Sunday, could now focus on the Cheltenham Festival in March.
“The juvenile horse that won at Sedgefield has won three. He has been in the right race every time and Sunday’s race was perfect for teaching him. His jumping left a lot to be desired on a few of his fences but that will pay him a ton,” he said.
“We’ll see what the handicapper does as he won’t be judged until Tuesday. He won at Sedgefield by 117 points, beating older horses. I don’t know what kind of rise he’ll get but he should get enough to get into the bottom of the weights in the Boodles (Juvenile Handicap Hurdle).
“We took him to Sedgefield against older horses just to try and make life as difficult as possible for him and teach him. It was difficult for him but he coped well with the task and Sedgefield is a bit of a mini Cheltenham with the waves.”
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