- Vincent O'Brien
Dr. Michael Vincent O'Brien (born
April 9 1917 in Churchtown,County Cork ,Ireland ) is a retired Irish race horse trainer. He is no relation to his namesake,Aidan O'Brien , another Irish race horse trainer. In 2001 he was voted the greatest influence in horse racing history, according to a worldwide vote hosted by The Racing Post newspaper. He trained six horses to win theEpsom Derby and was twice British Champion Trainer, to name but two of his many achievements.At first, he was a trainer of steeplechasers, and won the
Grand National atLiverpool three times - Early Mist in 1953, Royal Tan in 1954, and Quare Times in 1955. Probably the greatest steeplechaser he trained wasCottage Rake , who won theCheltenham Gold Cup three times in the fifties. He also won theChampion Hurdle three years in succession withHatton's Grace .Soon after, he turned his attention to
flat racing , and set up his stables at Ballydoyle, nearCashel, County Tipperary .Ballymoss , owned by American businessmanJohn McShain , was Obrien's first top-flight flat racing horse. In 1957 the colt won theIrish Derby Stakes , England'sSt. Leger Stakes and in 1958, France'sPrix de l'Arc de Triomphe en route to earningEuropean Horse of the Year honors. O'Brien's firstEpsom Derby winner was Larkspur in 1962. His other Derby winners wereSir Ivor (1968), Nijinsky (1970), Roberto (1972),The Minstrel (1977) and last Golden Fleece (1982).During the 1970s, he and owner
Robert Sangster , along with O'Brien's son-in-law,John Magnier , established what became known as the Coolmore syndicate, which became a highly successful horse-racing and breeding operation, centred onCoolmore Stud in Co Tipperary, but also stud farms in Kentucky and Australia. The combination of Vincent O'Brien's incredible gift for picking world class horses and John Magnier's business mind propelled Coolmore Stud to the top of the racing world, boasting greater assets than any other racing stud in Europe, the Middle East, or America. The key to the success was through use of the bloodline of a Canadian-bred horse namedNorthern Dancer , who had won aKentucky Derby . One son ofNorthern Dancer was Nijinsky, probably the best horse O'Brien ever trained. He was ridden to victory at Epsom byLester Piggott , who was associated with the Ballydoyle stable during the most successful years of the late sixties and seventies. He was eventually voted the greatest national hunt trainer of the 20th century, and was then voted the greatest flat trainer of the 20th century. He was also voted the greatest figure in the history of horseracing in a massive vote hosted by the Racing Post Newspaper.Lester Piggott came second out of a pool of 100 contenders who had been carefully selected by a panel of racing experts. Vincent O'Brien claimed 28% of the total vote.O'Brien's son, David, became a trainer, and won the
Epsom Derby in 1984 withSecreto , beating his father's horse,El Gran Senor , by a short head. David is the youngest ever trainer to win anEpsom Derby , anIrish Derby , or aFrench Derby . However, in a decision that shocked the racing world, David suddenly retired from horse racing following the birth of his first son, Andrew. A constant debate followed his retirement, with many believing that he would have continued his success and eventually outshone his father. Vincent O'Brien retired from training in the 1990s after winning the 1990Breeders' Cup Mile atBelmont Park inElmont, New York with Royal Academy. Aidan O'Brien was then employed by Coolmore to take over the training responsibilities of Vincent O'Brien. Unlike Vincent, who was involved in every stage of the horses' selecting, training and breeding, Aidan's role involves training whatever horses have been bought or bred for him by Coolmore which is the leading breeding establishment in the world. This narrow focus has allowed Aidan to produce a myriad of winners from Vincent's incredible bloodline of horses, maintaining Coolmore's status as the biggest bloodstock company in the world.Vincent O'Brien married Jacqueline Wittenoom, from Perth, Australia, in 1951 and had five children, daughters Elizabeth (McClory); Susan (Magnier); Jane (Myerscough) and sons Charles and David who followed in his father's footsteps as trainers.
Vincent O'Brien and his wife now spend half of each year in her home town of Perth,
Australia and the remainder of the year inIreland .References
* O'Brien, Jacqueline and Herbert, Ivor. "Vincent O'Brien: The Official Biography" (2005)
Bantam Press ISBN 0593054741
* [http://www.coolmore.com/Home.asp Coolmore Stud, Fethard, Co Tipperary, Ireland]
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