Vincent O'Brien - a Life Well-Lived

re: Vincent O'Brien - a Life Well-Lived

steve roberts — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:42:08 GMT

His records may be broken by his successor at Ballydoyle Aidan O'Brien but what made V O'B the greatest horseman ever was that from yearlings he could imagine them in 2 or 3 years time. As for Coolmore he would be careful which bloodlines to stand to ensure not to spoil the breed. The only true genius in the sport of horseracing.

re: Vincent O'Brien - a Life Well-Lived

Jim P — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:44:49 GMT

Great tribute and good research. The story tid-bits are greatly appreciated.

I have a granddaughter of Nijinsky and can see his personality in her. She's sweet, but likes to control everything. You get about 4 warnings for your transgressions though. Even at 22 and permanently lame, she enjoys laying down the racing challenge to any Thoroughbred she meets.

re: Vincent O'Brien - a Life Well-Lived

John T. — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 03:43:24 GMT

Tomorrow I will be attending the

Woodbine Oaks.To be honest with you

I enjoyed it better when it was known as the Canadian Oaks and what

a roll call of honour it really was

with the 1962 winner Flaming Page at the top of the class being the dam of perhaps the greatest horse that Vincent O.Brien ever trained

Nijinsky.Regardless of that fact what a great trainer of racehorses

M.V,O Brien was.

re: Vincent O'Brien - a Life Well-Lived

Linda in Texas — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:39:52 GMT

This is a truly awesome tribute to an obviously deep and thoughtful man. The soundness of his horses came first, that is the most impressive thing i learned. There are many many many more O'Briens rest assurred. For me, i would like to see more people honored while they are living, rather than after they are gone. Their legends live on along with the horses they trained and their offsprings. Respect the sport. Respect the men who do their best to make it the

honorable sport that i know it is. Thank you for a wonderful insight into the life of a great man.

re: Vincent O'Brien - a Life Well-Lived

Kelso fan — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 04:56:06 GMT

I agree - what a fantastic tribute to Vincent O'Brien and his eye for a horse and his skills. I was always a Northern Dancer fan and was so thrilled to see him valued so much in Ireland. I have had the opportunity to visit Coolmore and see Sadler's Wells. What a treat to meet him and remember all those horses associated with O'Brien.

re: Vincent O'Brien - a Life Well-Lived

Vince — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:39:53 GMT

becky

this is a fantastic tribute. it is sometimes easy to forget just how many top horses vincent o' brien had. ireland had always had good jumps horses but it took o' brien to make it the predominant force in european flat racing. without him, there would be no ballydoyle today, no sadlers wells influence on breeding. the whole world of flat racing in europe would look totally different today.

to think he spanned almost a century, born when the first world war was still going on, saddling his first winner as an official trainer during the second, and along the way winning chetenham gold cups, champion hurdles, grand nationals, all the flat classics, arcs and even a breeders cup as late as 1990, he is quite simply the greatest trainer and horseman that has ever lived or will ever live.

the only thing that I think sort of diminishes the o' brien story is that he came too much under the influence of robert sangster in the 70s and 80s. they would routinely retire horses long before they had showed their full potential, and syndicate them for a massive amount. would have been nice to see those horses continue racing. but I supposoe it was a fine line they were treading.

thanks again for the article.

re: Vincent O'Brien - a Life Well-Lived

John G. Burke. — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:07:50 GMT

My father served his apprenticeship with Vincent O"Brien, signing on in 1947 before he turned sixteen, I believe he is the last apprentice from that era who is still living. Even then he was a tough on the details of training, his horses always schooled consistently, my father said his horses never made mistakes jumping and he schooled plenty of them, including Cottage Rake. He said the man was a brilliant trainer and that was well before the days of Ballydoyle.There will probably never be another one like him.