Vincent O'Brien
Vincent O'Brien 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 probably 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.
He was born in
Churchtown, Co Cork, in
April 9 1917. 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 in
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.
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. 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.
Vincent O'Brien: The Official Biography by Jacqueline O'Brien and Ivor Herbert
Singer-songwriter
M. Ward includes a track called "Vincent O'Brien" on his 2003 album
Transfiguration of Vincent. O'Brien was a friend of Ward's.
["Then there's the subject matter: Death, specifically the passing of one Vincent O'Brien, a close friend to Ward. Heartsick or humorous, but never hokey, Ward's songs transform plain grief into a celebration of the essentially absurd, precarious nature of life." ]
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Coolmore Stud, Fethard, Co Tipperary, Ireland
