Who was Vincent O’Brien?

To readers of a certain age, the late Vincent O’Brien requires little or no introduction. He was, quite simply, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, racehorse trainers of all time. Like his namesake, and successor at the now famous Ballydoyle Stables in Co. Tipperary, Aidan O’Brien, Vincent O’Brien began his training career in the sphere of National Hunt racing.

However, after winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup four times, the Champion Hurdle three times and the Grand National three times in the Forties and Fifties, O’Brien turned his hand to Flat racing. He would become Irish Champion Flat Trainer for the first time in 1959, by which time he had already saddled Ballymoss to win the St. Leger in 1957 and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 1958. He would win the Irish trainers’ title 13 times in all and the British trainers’ title twice, in 1966 and 1977.

Alongside his son-in-law, John Magnier, and the late Robert Sangster, O’Brien was instrumental in establishing Coolmore, now a global breeding and racing powerhouse, in the Seventies. As far as English Classics are concerned, O’Brien won the Derby six times, including with Nijinsky – the last horse to win the English Triple Crown – in 1970, the 2,000 Guineas four times, the St. Leger three times, the Oaks twice and the 1,000 Guineas once.