Robson Aguiar
There were only five horses in the Group 3 Anglesey Stakes at The Curragh last Saturday, and Robson Aguiar trained two of them.
The two Aguiar horses raced in second and third places from early, Ballinea Star under Donagh O’Connor, up on the outside of the leader and favourite Confucius, Immortal Guard and Billy Lee tracking the pair of them.
The market said that Immortal Guard had the better chance of the two Aguiar horses, but the trainer never said anything of the kind.
“It was the right race for both horses,” says the trainer. “So it made sense to allow both of them run. I was hoping for a little bit of rain for Immortal Guard, but the ground was fine for him. He’s still a little bit weak, he’s still improving, he’s going the right way.”
Ballinea Star joined Confucius at the two-furlong marker. Immortal Guard made his ground on the far side and joined in. Two hundred yards out, and you couldn’t separate the three of them, Confucius, Ballinea Star, Immortal Guard, one Aidan O’Brien horse and two Robson Aguiar horses, three necks outstretched and six nostrils flared. You couldn't call it even when the yellow 100-yard marker flashed past, but then Ballinea Star forged on. She went a half a length up on the run to the winning line and Immortal Guard moved ahead of Confucius to complete a 1-2 for their trainer in the juveniles’ Group race.
“From the first day that Ballinea Star ran,” says her trainer, “I thought that she was a Group class filly. Five furlongs was too sharp for her at Navan, but then she stepped back up to six and she won at Cork. She improved from that run too. She’ll have a break now. She has had four races quite quickly, so she’ll spend one or two weeks in a field. She’s still growing, she will be a big filly. We’ll give her a little bit of time now, and she will be really strong for September.”
He speaks with a certainty and a confidence, borne out of the experience that engenders a deep understanding of horses, that leaves you in no doubt about the veracity of his reasoning.
“We’ll bring her back and prepare her for the Moyglare Stud Stakes. Moyglare, Goffs Million, Breeders’ Cup. That’s what we’re thinking.”
He doesn't bask in Saturday’s victory, but he should. It’s a landmark victory, a milestone in any fledgling trainer’s career, and it’s a milestone that lots of fledgling trainers don’t get to reach, ever. A first Group race win, and he had the runner-up as well.
It has been some journey so far.
It started in Brazil, when the then 10-year-old Robson Aguiar started riding ponies and started riding in cross-country races. His time at the Sao Paulo Apprentices’ School coincided with Silvestre de Sousa’s time there, and with Joao Moreira’s time there, and he went on to ride over 200 winners on the track in Brazil.
“I was getting too heavy to continue to ride in Brazil,” he says, “A few people were starting to come to Ireland at the time, and I wanted to try to learn something different. I knew that I couldn't be a jockey all my life.”
He came to Ireland, unable to speak English. He started with Eddie Lynam, but a friend of his was teaching English in Kildare, so he moved to James Leavy’s, from where he could combine working with horses with learning English.
He was in James Leavy’s for one and a half years, then moved to Paul Deegan’s, where he stayed for about two and a half years, before he moved to Ballydoyle. He didn’t have any connection to get him in, he just cold-called. He was in Aidan O’Brien’s for five years and, everywhere he went, he tells you, at every turning point, he learned something new.
“I got some great experience,” he says. “I am so grateful to all the people who have given me these opportunities. At Ballydoyle, you learn something new every day. You can’t work there and not learn. And the horses that I was riding.”
He names some of them: Camelot, Excelebration, Rip Van Winkle, St Nicholas Abbey, Found. So many.
“Aidan O’Brien was the best. He is the best. And working at Ballydoyle, it’s like going to university. You learn about so many things. Then, if you want, you can get yourself ready to go to the next stage.”
He got to know Roger O’Callaghan of Tally-Ho Stud, and he started going in there, combining that with doing his own horses. He would work at Tally-Ho in the morning, work with his own horses in the afternoon. And he started buying horses with a view to selling them on. He bought Bashiba privately after he was led out unsold at the Orby Sale, and sold him seven months later as a two-year-old for 50,000 guineas.
He quickly showed that he had a remarkable eye for a horse. He paid £2,000 for Summer Sands, who won almost £100,000 for winning the Redcar Two-Year-Old Trophy for Richard Fahey and then finished third in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes. He bought The Lir Jet for £8,000, and The Lir Jet won the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot on just his second run.
A chance meeting with football agent and Amo Racing supremo Kia Joorabchian at the sales was another turning point. Robson recommended the Kodiac colt who would be named Devilwala to the owner at the Craven Breeze-Up Sales in 2020. Devilwala won on his racecourse debut, and he finished second in the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes at York on his second run. Later that season he finished fourth in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes.
Their relationship thrived. Robson was assistant trainer to Adrian Murray in 2023 when the trainer sent out the Amo Racing colt Valiant Force to spring a 150/1 shock in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot, and when Bucanero Fuerte won the Group 2 Railway Stakes and then the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes later that year.
Bucanero Fuerte won the Lacken Stakes in 2024 and Arizona Blaze won the Marble Hill Stakes, and then, last year, they bagged two more Group 1 races: Power Blue won the Phoenix Stakes and Arizona Blaze won the Flying Five.
“Kia has been brilliant to me,” says Robson. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t met Kia.”
When Robson took out his own trainer’s licence last August, the Amo Racing horses were the spine of his team. Bryant won at Dundalk in November and Square Necker won back there the following month. They were his first two winners as a trainer. Amo Racing is not the only owner in the yard, however, and, last month, some of the Amo Racing horses were removed from the yard.
“It was obviously disappointing to lose some of the horses,” he says. “But we are continuing to build here. I will always be friendly with Kia. We still have some horses for Amo Racing, and I hope that that will be the case for a long time to come.”
He is looking forward to the rest of the season now. Blanc De Blanc, who is two for two, will be prepared for a Group 3 race in Dundalk, and then, all going well, be aimed at the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Edward Thatch is on track for the Phoenix Stakes or the Futurity Stakes, and then hopefully on to the National Stakes. He has some other nice two-year-olds too who might not be seen until later in the season, or maybe next season.
The journey continues.
© The Sunday Times, 5th July 2026
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