VINCENT O’BRIEN- FAREWELL TO THE GREATEST TRAINER OF ALL TIME

[dropcap]V[/dropcap]incent O’Brien, who died peacefully at his home in Straffan, County Kildare, at the age of 92, is widely recognized as an all time great of international racing. O’Brien and his wife Jacqueline had been spending recent winters in Perth, Western Australia, where their son David lives with his family. Due to his failing health, he returned to his home where he died surrounded by his wife, his five children – David, Charles, Elisabeth, Susan and Jane, grandchildren, and sons and daughters-in-law.
His death at the start of Derby week evoked memories of Larkspur, Sir Ivor, Triple Crown winner Nijinsky, Roberto, The Minstrel and Golden Fleece, whose victories in the Epsom Classic accounted for six of O’Brien’s 16 British Classic wins. He trained the winners of 27 Irish Classics and 44 in all, won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe thrice, with Ballymoss in 1958 and with Alleged in 1977 and 1978, and sent out 25 winners at Royal Ascot including a six-timer from 7 runners at the meeting in 1975.
The remarkable spree of success he achieved in both National Hunt racing and Flat made him unique and it was as a trainer of jumpers that O’Brien first made his name after succeeding his father, Dan, as trainer at the family farm in Churchtown, County Cork.
He took out his trainer’s license in 1943 and by the end of that decade had begun to make a stunning impact at the Cheltenham Festival, sending out Cottage Rake to win three consecutive Gold Cups (1948-1950) a race he also won with Knock Hard in 1953. He also achieved a hat trick in the Champion Hurdle with Hatton’s Grace (1949-1951).
Arguable his finest achievement in the jumping sphere was the unmatched feat of winning three consecutive Grand Nationals with different horses- Early Mist (1953), Royal Tan (1954) and Quare Times (1955).
In 1951, O’Brien moved his training operation to a yard near the village of Rosegreen in County Tipperary – a place called Ballydoyle. Six Derby winners followed as O’Brien built a training establishment known the world over and whose success has been continued by Aidan O’Brien, no relation, who succeeded O’Brien following his retirement in 1994.
Sadler’s Wells was a fine racehorse achieving Group-1 success in the Irish 2000 Guineas, The Eclipse Stakes and The Irish Champion Stakes in 1984 but his lasting contribution as a hugely successful stallion was the backbone of Coolmore Stud’s ascent on the world’s stage after O’Brien, his son-in-law John Magnier and Robert Sangster had, in the 1970’s embarked on a policy of buying yearlings in the U.S. for O’Brien to train, with stud syndication the ultimate goal.
O’Brien’s astonishing training career came to a close with victory for Mysterious Ways at the Curragh in September 1994, with the announcement of his retirement coming a month later. When he eventually decided to retire, his departure from the training ranks was typical of the man. It was done without fuss or fanfare, with a short statement issued late one evening at the Goffs Sales, in October 1994. His retirement came fifty years after he landed the Irish Cambridgeshire – Irish Cesarewitch double with Drybob and Good Days. However, for all his success as a trainer, O’Brien was essentially a private man who often gave the impression that he was much happier at home with his family and his horses at Ballydoyle than in the media spotlight. Always courteous, if not effusive in the winner’s enclosure he was invariably dapper and immaculately turned out. He believed in letting his horses do the talking, and year after year, his horses talked loudly in the big races in Ireland, Britain, and further afield.
Gambling played a big part in his early years as a trainer before the business of making stallions out of high-class horses on the Flat became the priority at Ballydoyle. And the legacy of that policy of buying yearlings in the U.S. to train for stud purposes at Coolmore continues to this date. His ability, his judgment of form served him well in his rise to the top, for it is no exaggeration to say that the O’Brien racing empire was based on shrewd betting. When examining a yearling at Keeneland he could go into a trance, visualizing the colt two years hence at Epsom, and his record at spotting future champions was unrivalled.
His achievements have been recognized by a plethora of awards and honorary doctorates from universities. Throughout his illustrious career, O’Brien gave Irish racing many good days and he, more than anyone else, propelled Ireland to the forefront of international racing.
At his burial service a big screen to the left of the altar showed a smiling sequence of winning moments and family pleasure down the years, but once the first hymn struck there was a collective ache for happiness past. Great lives do this to you. They take you back to great moments you witnessed and people you revered. If you lived in the racing world, there would have been no greater moments and no one more revered. The service did its best, but the echoes of greatness and a sense of one’s inadequacy kept floating back. Without Charles O’Brien the service would have ended as a somber occasion, but once he stood up and began to detail the family involvement, the five children, numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren things eased up. By the time he nearly broke down he had taken the congregation away from mere grieving at the passing. He paid tribute to his mother Jacqueline, the Australian politician’s daughter, who mistakenly strayed into Merrion Square in the 1950’s and without whom nothing would have been complete.

[box]Farewell to the greatest trainer of all time – a Tribute In the spring of 2003 readers of the Racing Post named Vincent O’Brien as ‘racing’s greatest achiever of the last century’, the greatest of racing ‘greats’. It was inevitably his feats as a trainer that earned him accolades. Famous names in racing pay tribute.[/box]

LESTER PIGGOTT : “Vincent was the best trainer I or any other jockey ever rode for. There is really no argument – he was the greatest.” Lester Piggott was associated with so many of O’Brien’s high profile victories on the Flat and his fairytale win on Royal Academy in the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Mile in New York brought the famous duo together for one last major international hurrah!

My first ride for him was on his mare Gladness, in the Gold Cup at Ascot. I soon became aware that what made him so special was the thoroughness of his preparation, not only of the horse, but in this case, of the jockey. I first rode a classic winner for Vincent on Valoris in the 1966 Oaks. Winning the Derby with Sir Ivor, Nijinsky, Roberto and The Minstrel was of course very special, but so were the two Arcs of A lleged.

Vincent was the best trainer ever, at maintaining the value of a horse, a crucial skill in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s when many of the horses in his care were worth millions. Everything he did was geared to keeping his horses happy and relaxed at home so that they would perform to their full potential on the racecourse.”

AIDAN O’BRIEN: “It is with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Dr. Vincent O’Brien. As for so many people in racing, he was my hero, when I was growing up. For Anne-Marie and me to come to Ballydoyle, to the training facility he established, was an extraordinary privilege. Dr. O’Brien was tireless in improving the yards and gallops and we enjoy today the benefits of his hard work and dedication for over half-a-century. We would never have been able to achieve our success without the facilities and gallops he built. There is nothing that compares to it anywhere in the world. I feel a sense of history every morning when I walk into the yard that had horses such as Nijinsky, Sir Ivor and Sadler’s Wells. His dedication to the sport of racing and to its highest standards knew no bounds. It is humbling to follow in his footsteps”.

SUE MAGNIER: “Dad’s racing career speaks for itself and needs no elaboration. There was nobody like him. Coolmore Stud and Ballydoyle are the results of his vision and testament to his success. More importantly, he was a loving father, grandfather and great-grandfather and an extraordinary mentor. His passing away is a great loss to me and my family and we will all miss him greatly.”

PAT EDDERY: “Vincent was a genius before I met him, he was still a genius before I left him and he was a great trainer and a great man to work for.” Pat Eddery, whose Classic winners for Vincent O’Brien included El Gran Senor, Golden Fleece, Lomond, Kings Lake and Law Society, described his time as stable jockey at Ballydoyle, as, “The best five years of my racing life.” “Vincent was not only a great trainer, but also a lovely man, and I got on really well with him and we had a very good relationship. We had many fantastic successes and it was a real pleasure to ride for him. There were some great horses, but the way he trained them was nothing short of perfection, and he was simply the best. He had a fantastic attention to detail about everything, and his eye for a horse was simply amazing. He somehow instinctively knew how to get the best out of them. He never tied me down to orders, but always made sure that the horses were in peak condition when they got on the racecourse. He was a legend in my lifetime and the chance to work for a man of his caliber was fantastic, a dream-come-true!”

JOHN OXX: “Vincent brought the training of horses to a different level and raised the profile of Irish racing in the process. He was an innovator and a man of vision who carried out all his plans with great determination. He had more imagination than others and was always ahead of his time. He was simply the man who made dreams come true.”

DERMOT WELD: “He was the most inspirational person you could wish to follow. He was a legend in his own lifetime. A man for all seasons! His contribution to Irish Racing will live forever.”

JIM BOLGER: “He was a thorough gentleman who showed the rest of us the way. He was a great friend and I have been missing him somewhat in recent years. It is very sad to see him go.” Kevin Prendergast: “What can you say when a legend like Vincent O’Brien passes away. He was a proper gentleman and a legend in his time and he helped everybody through thick and thin. He will be missed by everybody.”

SIR PETER O’SULLVAN: A friend for more than half-a-century, recalls a genius. “He had an astonishing eye for a horse and he had that characteristic of a genius, in that, he was meticulous. He focused enormously on detail; he knew the right details to focus on. He was a remarkable horseman and Ballydoyle started off as just a farm in Tipperary. Transforming an ordinary farm into a training establishment and achieving what he did was quite remarkable. His 20th Century training achievement was unparalleled in his profession.”

SHEIKH MOHAMMED: “Vincent O’Brien was a genius with horses. We admired his remarkable achievements and enjoyed competing with him. His place in the history of our sport is unchallenged. He is a racing legend.”

HENRY CECIL: “Vincent was a wonderful trainer and a good friend of mine. In my early days of training he was always so helpful, and at the sales thought nothing of coming with me to give his opinion of a yearling I was interested in. We will all miss this quiet, unassuming, great man.”

JOHN GOSDEN: “Vincent set all the standards. Be it in the Gold Cups, Champion Hurdles, Grand Nationals, Derbys or Guineas. He was truly a magnificent man who also opened up the whole world of international bloodstock.”

CLIVE BRITTAIN: “I first met Vincent O’Brien back in the days when he brought horses over to race and kept them with Sir Noel Murless. He was such a charming man and I was only a stable lad at that time, but he always would have a word for me. You just can’t put together how clever a man and what a horseman he was, but most of all he was a gentleman of the highest order.”

LUCA CUMANI: “It’s the passing of an era. I was lucky to spend an enjoyable two or three weeks at Ballydoyle when I was an 18-year-old, when I was just riding and mucking out when he was at the helm. I have known the family a long time and we all know that he was the greatest trainer and his achievements are unsurpassed and will remain unsurpassed!”

JOHNNY MURTAGH: “I had the pleasure of riding for him a few times and he was a marvelous man. He knew his horses very well and his instructions were always very simple – all he did was, explain the strengths of his horses. I think – he set a standard for all the young Irish trainers and a lot of what they’ve achieved they owe to him.”

JOHN DUNLOP : “He was the most remarkable and complete trainer. His record at Cheltenham speaks for itself and starting in a very humble way, he developed into a top trainer who carried all before him. He was also a most delightful and charming man.”

SIR MICHAEL STOUTE: “Vincent O’Brien was and always will be my hero. He excelled in every department of racing that he got involved with. He was a gentleman and a genius.”

[box]10 REASONS WHY HE WAS THE GREATEST
1. He trained six Derby winners from 1962 to 1982.
2. He is the only trainer to have sent out three consecutive Grand National winners.
3. His 23 Cheltenham Festival wins include 3 consecutive Gold Cups and Champion Hurdles.
4. He was co-creator of Ballydoyle – the world’s greatest training centre.
5. He is the only man to train a Triple Crown winner in the last 74 years.
6. He was responsible for Ireland’s champion two-year-old 18 times
7. He was co-creator of the modern-day Coolmore, the world’s pre-eminent breeding operation.
8. He trained a Breeders’ Cup winner at the age of 73.
9. He was Champion Trainer in Ireland on 13 occasions.
10.His success at Royal Ascot numbers 25.[/box] [box]Vincent O’Brien – His Achievements
16 English Classics including six Derby
26 Irish Classic victories
4 Cheltenham Gold Cups, including Cottage Rake’s trio
1 Triple Crown winner – The great Nijinsky in 1970
3 Champion Hurdles – Courtesy Cottage Rake
3 Grand Nationals in consecutive years (1953 to 55)
4 British trainer’s titles, two Flat and two Jumps
13 Irish Flat trainer’s titles between 1959 and 1988[/box]

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AUGUST- SEPTEMBER 2009