The Trainer Who Has Conquered The World: Joseph O'Brien

Okay, Dana. Okay, Helen. All right, Ajmal. Okay, Akbar. Okay, Lorraine. Joseph O'Brien, a racehorse trainer in Kilkenny in the south of Ireland. Originally, my grandfather trained here, Joe Coley, and he had a lot of success here. After that, my mum trained from here for a number of years, and when I was born, my dad took the license over from mum to train from here then for a few years after that. Very lucky to have a property like this. I always grew up wanting to be a trainer, and I've been so lucky to have good support from the time I started training. I have an incredible group of owners, most of which I've been training for since I started training, which is now seven or eight years ago, and we have a great relationship with everyone. And like I say, you're only as good as the horses that you have in your hands, and we're very lucky to have some incredible horses and some well-bred two-year-olds, colts and fillies coming into our yard every year, and you just hope that some of them can take you to group 111. So what speed are you actually going to be? So it depends on the pairing, but the guys towards the front, we're going the guts of 50 kilometers an hour, and the guys towards the back will be going more like probably 30 or low 30s. See, it's a little bit different here, and not really comparable to the racing environment, because we're going against the incline. We very rarely, actually, in fact, we've nearly never hit racing pace at home, because we save that for the track. I'm the oldest of three siblings. Sarah, who's actually our vet here, she works with me all the time. And then we have Anna, who manages our stud farm here, and then obviously Danica, who's training in Bondmoor. We're fully immersed in the racing industry, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Obviously, Dad, it goes without saying, has had an incredible number of years. Their last couple of seasons, in particular, have been off the charts, and it's tough to beat him. St. Nicholas Abbey, history in the making. St. Nicholas Abbey, Joey O'Brien, for his father, Aidan Owen, history is made. St. Nicholas Abbey wins. I was very lucky to ride St. Nicholas Abbey, and to win the Breeders' Cup turf. Really, it was a dream come true, and just to ride at the Breeders' Cup. I remember going to the start, and taking it all in, and really just appreciating the experience of having a ride at the Breeders' Cup, because I didn't think I maybe would have a ride again. And for the horse to win on the day, a lot of our family was there, and obviously a big group from all of the owners was there at the races as well. And I have to say, it was a magical day. And rekindling, stride for stride, rekindling has won the Emirates Melbourne Cup. Talk me through the whole first Melbourne Cup experience. You just started training just now. I would have been probably 23, I think. I think it was my second season training, so to win the race was so special. And I think, really, to be honest, we didn't quite realise the magnitude of the race, even though we grew up watching it, until we were actually there and witnessed the day firsthand. It is one of the races around the world that really grabs the attention of the worldwide media, and there's only a handful of races in the world that you can really do that. It feels like a previous life, but time goes by fast in this game. Twilight Payment, I suppose that was different, obviously COVID, and we weren't able to travel down. He ran well in the race a year previously, and we learned a lot about him on his first preparation with us. And he came back for his second preparation and really went from strength to strength, culminating in leading all the way in the cup. I think he was one of the first horses to do that, but he was as tough as nails. Stamina, genuine, and he just loved being a racehorse. I think there's no doubt that at some stage in the future, you'll have the right horse to win the race, and he's had a number of places and horses run great in it. So, yeah, I'm sure that'll come soon. Not really. If I start that conversation, he lists off a fair number of races that we haven't won, so I'm not going to start that one.