 |
| |
|
NTRAU
|
Search the NTRA.com biography database for complete bio listings:
Browse:
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z
| Aidan O'Brien |
Stats Updated Through: 2/2/2009
|
 |
| 2008 Stats: | | Starts | | 10 | | 1st-2nd-3rd | | 0-4-1 | | Earnings (Rank) | | $1,838,850 (112) | | Win % (In-The-Money %) | | 0% (50%) |
|
|
|
Top Associated Horses:
|
|
Henrythenavigator,
Duke of Marmalade,
Heart Shaped,
Westphalia,
Soldier of Fortune,
U S Ranger |
|
Biography and Highlights:
|
|
- Born: Oct. 16, 1969, Wexford, Ireland
- Residence: Ballydoyle, Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland
- Family: wife; Anne-Marie; and children, Joseph (now riding for his father as an apprentice jockey), Sarah, Anna and Dennis
- Racing Background: A son of a farmer and small-scale trainer, O'Brien spent three years as assistant to Jim Bolger before becoming assistant to his future wife Anne-Marie, a former model and daughter of trainer Joe Crowley. Anne-Marie had taken over the license from her father in January 1991 and became the first female champion trainer when landing the jumps title in 1992-93. She immediately handed the license to Aidan, then age 23, and he scored his first winner on his first day as a trainer when Wandering Thoughts won at Tralee. He also was champion amateur rider over jumps in the 1993-94 season … He has dominated Irish racing ever since, becoming champion jumps trainer for each of the subsequent five seasons and his best jumper, Istabraq, won the Champion Hurdle in 1998, 1999 and 2000
- Racing Career: Backed by owners John Magnier and Michael Tabor of the Coolmore Group, he gradually cut back on his jumping string and moved his flat horses to the famous Ballydoyle stables in Cashel, County Tipperary, former home of the previous great Irish trainer, Vincent O’Brien, who is no relation … Aidan was runner-up in his first season at Ballydoyle, but won the flat title in 1997. He finished third in 1998 but regained the title in 1999 and has won it every year since … Desert King provided him with his first Group 1 winner on the flat, in the 1996 National Stakes ... His 2001 season was nothing short of sensational, with victories in seven European classics, he won 22 out of the 78 Group 1 races contested around Europe in 2001, meaning that he became the first overseas trainer to win the British trainers’ title since Vincent O’Brien in 1977 with 20 victories from 99 runners and almost £3.4 million in prize money … Won the British championship again in 2002, 2007 and 2008 ... In 2008 he enjoyed an astonishing season, becoming the first trainer since 1935 to sweep all five of the Irish classics. He also dominated in Britain, racking up a total of 23 Group 1 wins around Europe, leaving him just two short of the world record for a calendar year. Highlights included a third successive Ascot Gold Cup for Yeats and five Group 1 victories in a row for Duke Of Marmalade ... Yeats went on to win a fourth Ascot Gold Cup during a 2009 season which was extremely good, without being quite as spectacular as 2008, before retiring. His best horses, Rip Van Winkle, Mastercraftsman and Fame And Glory, have each fallen prey to the awesome Sea The Stars on several occasions ... Top horses from previous years include Rock of Gibraltar, who won seven straight Group 1 events in 2002; Galileo, winner of the English and Irish Derbys in 2001; High Chaparral, winner of the 2002 English and Irish Derbys; Dylan Thomas, winner of the 2006 Irish Derby who went on to land five Group 1 races, including the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, the following year, Peeping Fawn, George Washington, Giant's Causeway, Scorpion, Hawk Wing, Johannesburg, Stravinsky and King of Kings (O'Brien also bred Rock of Gibraltar in partnership with his wife and father-in-law) ... Other Group 1 winners he has trained include Yesterday, Minardi, Spartacus, Sequoyah, Necklace, Black Sam Bellamy, Shahtoush, Sophisticat, Mozart, Saratoga Springs, Aristotle, Sunspangled, Landseer, Orpen, Fasliyev, Second Empire, Ciro, Hold That Tiger, Brian Boru, Powerscourt, Ad Valorem, Oratorio, King Charlemagne, Alexandrova and Holy Roman Emperor ... He has saddled three Breeders' Cup winners – the 2001 Juvenile with Johannesburg and two renewals of the Turf with High Chaparral (one in a dead-heat with Johar). His 11 second-place finishes include the narrow loss to Tiznow by Giant's Causeway in the 2000 Breeders' Cup Classic and Henrythenavigator's near miss in the same race in 2008 ... Other major U.S. wins: 2000 Secretariat Stakes (Ciro), 2002 Shadwell Turf Mile (Landseer) and 2005 Arlington Million (Powerscourt).
Breeders' Cup Record| Starts | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Earnings | | 44 | 3 | 8 | 4 | $6,936,270 |
| 1998 | Mile | Second Empire (Ire) | 6th | | 1999 | Juvenile | Brahms | 7th | | | Juvenile | Mull of Kintyre | 4th | | | Juvenile Fillies | Warrior Queen | 8th | | | Sprint | Stravinsky | 6th | | 2000 | Classic | Giant's Causeway | 2nd | | | Juvenile | Turnberry Isle (Ire) | 6th | | 2001 | Classic | Black Minnaloushe | 10th | | | Classic | Galileo (Ire) | 6th | | | Juvenile | Johannesburg | 1st | | | Juvenile Fillies | Sophisticat | 5th | | | Mile | Bach (Ire) | 3rd | | | Sprint | Mozart (Ire) | 11th | | | Turf | Milan (GB) | 2nd | | 2002 | Classic | Hawk Wing | 7th | | | Juvenile | Hold That Tiger | 3rd | | | Juvenile | Tomahawk | 8th | | | Juvenile | Van Nistelrooy | 5th | | | Mile | Landseer (GB) | dnf | | | Mile | Rock of Gibraltar (Ire) | 2nd | | | Turf | High Chaparral (Ire) | 1st | | 2003 | Classic | Hold That Tiger | 5th | | | Filly & Mare Turf | L'Ancresse (Ire) | 2nd | | | Filly & Mare Turf | Yesterday (Ire) | 3rd | | | Turf | High Chaparral | 1st (DH) | | 2004 | Filly & Mare Turf | Yesterday (Ire) | 5th | | | Juvenile | Scandinavia | 8th | | | Juvenile Fillies | Mona Lisa (GB) | 11th | | | Mile | Antonius Pius | 2nd | | | Turf | Powerscourt (GB) | 3rd | | 2005 | Classic | Oratorio (Ire) | 11th | | | Filly & Mare Turf | Mona Lisa (GB) | 10th | | | Juvenile | Ivan Denisovich (Ire) | 12th | | | Mile | Ad Valorem | 9th | | | Turf | Ace (Ire) | 2nd | | 2006 | Classic | George Washington (Ire) | 6th | | | Mile | Ad Valorem | 13th | | | Mile | Aussie Rules | 8th | | | Turf | Scorpion (Ire) | 5th | | 2007 | Classic | George Washington (Ire) | dnf | | | Filly & Mare Turf | All My Loving (Ire) | 5th | | | Juvenile Turf | Achill Island (Ire) | 2nd | | | Mile | Excellent Art (GB) | 2nd | | | Turf | Dylan Thomas (Ire) | 5th |
|
|
NOTE: Stats include North American and selected international races. Click here to view selected international race list.
Biographies on jockeys, trainers and owners are from the Breeders' Cup World Championships events from 2001 through 2009, and are intended as informational resources. Biographies will be updated if an individual is again a participant in the Breeders' Cup World Championships.
Biographies are available for most horses appearing in the top 100 money earnings list, and/or for those who are frequently making headlines in the news starting with the 2006 Triple Crown season.
|
|
|
 |
|
|