Vincent O'Brien
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- For other uses, see Vincent O'Brien (disambiguation).
Dr. Michael Vincent O'Brien (born April 9 1917 in Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland) is a retired Irish race horse trainer. He is of no relation to his namesake, Aidan O'Brien, another Irish race horse trainer. He is regarded as the greatest horse-racing trainer Ireland has ever produced, and was known as "the Master of Ballydoyle". He trained six horses to win the Epsom Derby.
At first, he was a trainer of steeplechasers, and won the Grand National at Liverpool three times - Early Mist in 1953, Royal Tan in 1954, and Quare Times in 1955. Probably the greatest steeplechaser he trained was Cottage Rake, who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup three times in the fifties.
Soon after, he turned his attention to the flat, and set up his stables at Ballydoyle, near Cashel, County Tipperary. His first Epsom Derby winner was Larkspur in 1962. His other Derby winners were Sir 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 on Coolmore Stud in Co Tipperary, but also stud farms in Kentucky and Australia. The key to the success was through use of the bloodline of a Canadian-bred horse named Northern Dancer, who had won a Kentucky Derby. One son of Northern Dancer was Nijinsky, probably the best horse O'Brien ever trained. He was ridden to victory at Epsom by Lester 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. 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 with Secreto, beating his father's horse, El Gran Senor, by a short head. David is the youngest ever trainer to win an Epsom Derby, an Irish Derby, or a French Derby. Vincent O'Brien retired from training in the late eighties; he was succeeded as "Master of Ballydoyle" by Aidan O'Brien.
Vincent O'Brien married Jacqueline Wittenoom, from Perth, Australia, in 1951 and had five children, Elizabeth (McClory); Susan (Magnier); Jane (Myerscough); David and Charles.
[edit] Biography
Vincent O'Brien: The Official Biography by Jacqueline O'Brien and Ivor Herbert
[edit] References
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