Trainer Profile

County Of Origin: Wexford

Date of licence: June, 1993

First winner: Wandering Thoughts (Pat Gilson), Tralee, June 7, 1993

4,000th winner (Flat and National Hunt): Henry Longfellow (Ryan Moore) Curragh, September 10, 2023

First Classic winner: Classic Park (Stephen Craine) (Irish 1,000 Guineas 1997)

100th European Classic winner: Auguste Rodin (Ryan Moore) (Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby 2023)

Epsom Derby winners: 10 - a record - Galileo (2001), High Chaparral (2002), Camelot (2012), Ruler Of The World (2013), Australia (2014), Wings Of Eagles (2017), Anthony Van Dyck (2019), Serpentine (2020), Auguste Rodin (2023), City Of Troy (2024). 

Significant horses (selected): City Of Troy, Magical, Auguste Rodin, Paddington, Saxon Warrior, Churchill, Minding, Order Of St George, Found, Highland Reel, Ruler Of The World, Gleneagles, Adelaide, Australia, Camelot, So You Think, St Nicholas Abbey, St Mark's Basilica, Lillie Langtry, Fame And Glory, Mastercraftsman, Duke Of Marmalade, Henrythenavigator, Dylan Thomas, George Washington, Yeats, Footstepsinthesand, Oratorio, Santiago, High Chaparral, Hawk Wing, Rock Of Gibraltar, Galileo, Imagine, Giant's Causeway, Peaceful, Love, Saffron Walden, Shahtoush, King Of Kings, Classic Park, Istabraq, Desert King, Urubande, Life Of A Lord. 

Assoc. jockeys: Ryan Moore, Wayne Lordan

Did you know:

Aidan O'Brien has been Irish Champion Flat trainer in terms of prizemoney won in every season since 1999. He began his career with Curragh trainer PJ Finn and was later assistant trainer to both Jim Bolger and Annemarie Crowley who he was later to marry.

Aidan took out his trainer's licence in 1993 and his first winner was Wandering Thoughts at Tralee in June of that year. In the early stages of his career, he broke all manner of records in National Hunt racing in terms of winners trained and also became the first trainer to saddle a 1-2-3 in the 1995 Galway Plate when Life Of A Lord defeated Kelly's Pearl and Loshian. Life Of A Lord went on win the Kerry National at Listowel the following September while he also proved successful in the Whitbread Gold Cup at Sandown the following April, before going back to Galway to claim a second consecutive victory in the Galway Plate.

His remarkable success continued when he moved to Ballydoyle in 1996 and he quickly established himself as one of the leading trainers in the world. O'Brien continues to enjoy tremendous success at home and abroad, winning the biggest races on a continuous basis. No trainer or jockey has enjoyed more success in the Epsom Derby. 

O'Brien became the first trainer to win the Epsom Derby in three consecutive years when Australia won in 2014, following on from Ruler Of The World and Camelot. With Aidan's eldest son Joseph in the saddle, Camelot's success had been all the more remarkable as it was the first father/son trainer/jockey partnership to win a British classic. The pair repeated the feat with Australia in the same race in 2014 and they also landed the Doncaster St Leger with Leading Light in 2013. At Royal Ascot in 2015, O'Brien saddled eight winners over the five days.

Minding gave O'Brien his 250th Group/Grade 1 winner on the Flat when taking the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket in May, 2016. O'Brien saddled his 50th winner at Royal Ascot when Even Song won the Ribblesdale Stakes on Thursday, June 17th, 2016. In October of the same year, he recorded a magnificent 1-2-3 in the €5m Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly when the Ryan Moore-ridden Found led home Highland Reel and Order Of St George. All three were by the champion sire Galileo.

Aidan enjoyed his 300th Group 1/Grade 1 winner (Flat and National Hunt combined) when Highland Reel (Ryan Moore) took the Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 21, 2017. 

On Saturday, October 28, 2017, Aidan set a new world record of 26 Group/Grade 1 wins in a calendar year when Saxon Warrior (Ryan Moore) landed the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster. He was crowned champion trainer in Britain for the sixth time on the same afternoon. He was to finish the year with 28 Group/Grade 1 winners.

Aidan recorded his 300th Group/Grade 1 winner on the Flat when his son Donnacha partnered Saxon Warrior to win the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday, May 5, 2018. 

Aidan set a new record of 152 winners in a Flat season in Ireland when crowned champion trainer 21st time in 2018. Anthony Van Dyck, ridden by Seamus Heffernan, gave Aidan a record-equalling seventh victory in the Epsom Derby in 2019 and he has since surpassed that figure, securing the record on his own. 

At Leopardstown on Thursday, August 6, 2020, Aidan (Military Style), sons Joseph (Thundering Nights and Tonkinese) and Donnacha (Shale) all trained winners on the same card for the first time. 

Aidan recorded his 40th British Classic success, equalling a 158-year-old record held by John Scott, when the Frankie Dettori-ridden Snowfall scored a 16-length success in the Epsom Oaks in June 2021. Two days later after his 2021 Epsom Oaks success, Aidan won the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly for the first time with St Mark's Basilica. He also won the French Oaks for the first time in the same year with Joan Of Arc.

Henry Longfellow gave Aidan his 4,000th winner (Flat and National Hunt) when winning at the Curragh on September 10, 2023. He is the third Irish trainer after Dermot Weld and Willie Mullins to reach that milestone. 

City Of Troy became the 24th Irish-trained Epsom Derby winner when giving O'Brien his 10th win in the race in June 2024. The success saw O'Brien become the most successful trainer or jockey in the history of the race. Lester Piggott was a nine-time Derby winner.

Updated: June 3, 2024