Giant Sequoia has moved into the early Derby conversation after his Curragh maiden win, with owner-breeder John Stewart describing the Coolmore partnership behind the Frankel colt as “surreal”.
The Aidan O’Brien-trained two-year-old opened his account at the Curragh on Saturday and is now quoted at 14-1 for next year’s Epsom Derby after emerging from one of Stewart’s first major European breeding investments.
Giant Sequoia is out of Pink Dogwood, the Oaks runner-up Stewart bought from Coolmore after launching Resolute Racing in 2023. He owns the colt with the Coolmore partners and Westerberg, placing the Kentucky-based owner at the centre of a Ballydoyle Classic project far earlier than he expected.
Stewart Eyes Epsom Dream With Ballydoyle Colt
Stewart told IrishRacing.com that having his first homebred from the farm with O’Brien and Coolmore, and already prominent for Epsom, was beyond his early expectations.
The comments matter because Giant Sequoia gives Resolute a live Classic marker in Europe, while O’Brien’s juvenile team has already supplied major Derby clues this summer. Stewart said the colt was nicknamed Frankie on the farm and that his team had long viewed him as the type who could develop into a Derby horse.
For Coolmore, the arrangement keeps a son of Frankel from a high-class Galileo mare inside the Ballydoyle system. For Stewart, it is an immediate validation of a spending strategy that has drawn attention on both sides of the Atlantic.
