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I couldn’t agree more.A perfect gentleman who finds himself in a PR job he was never intended for.His wife is helping out now with the communications and his son with the ass.trainer/come jockey role.A nice family operation in a high profile multi million dollare company.In fact I believe no matter who calls them Mafia that Coolmore is totally family orientated. Hence the Smith family find themselves welcome to the operation.I don’t know about the Hay factor or how it will play out.Most operations like Coolmore look for new capital from time to time.Older stockholders tend to retire and withdraw their support gradually so as not to depreciate their investment.
As someone who trains communication skills for a living I find him quite endearing as a speaker.
Listen he has many bad habits and listen is clearly out of his comfort zone when in front of the camera but listen his job is primarily to train horses and he does that better than most. If I had a day with him you would see a different person but then what we would have to talk about?
They can’t all be like John Gosden who is a fantastic speaker but Aiden always comes across to me as someone who cares about his horses and he does always offer an interview before or after a race win or lose.
My only beef with Aiden/Coolmore is the lack of info in the run up to races. They are always the last to say what running and jockey plans are but then again I suppose they have more quality horses to choose from.
As for the texting of his dear old mumma – almost brought a tear to my eye!
"this perfect mix of poetry and destruction, this glory of rhythm, power and majesty: the undisputed champion of the world!!!"
I can see why people think he was being rude but as racing fans over here know he does this after every big win.it was just great to see just how much pleasure the obrien family got from the whole experience and also the joy the coolmore mafia showed.To me it was one of the greatest racing stories with young joey as the yanks called him showing maturity well beyond his years.also the horse winning so brilliantly and of course the trainer doing a brilliant job in getting him right for the big day.
I think in all the euphoria surrounding the race it has been overlooked what a horse st nick could be.that was as good a performance as any bar danedreams in the arc and hopefully he will be back next year but the temptation is there for him to go to stud.thanks aiden for making the breeders cup so memorable.just one thing though.Dont bother with the dirt and lets hope none of those who ran on it are any the worse.btw what a team of horses he has for next year.Cant wait already.- Total Posts 438
AOB was mid-text when interrupted, so he did nothing wrong there.
What IS wrong is his steadfast refusal to remove his sunglasses for interviews; very poor form.
Family comes first!!!! and I respect AOB for that he’s more human than I ever gave him credit for. Betya Grandma was filled with pride.
LISTEN!!!! Stuff the media let them wait in line. They wouldn’t think twice about hanging AOB or anyone else out to dry on the first crucifix they could find if they got the chance.
I reckon he’s very smart and realises they are a necessary evil between him and his adoring public and he feels the less said the better.
Maybe he should have Big John do the interviews after each race.By the way where were Big John and Michael? Were they there? Seemed like Derrick did all the talking for Coolmore.
Nice story about Aidan in the aftermath of St Nicholas Abbey, in today’s editorial by Jonathan Mullin in the Irish Racing Post.
In my opinion, he is obviously a complex character and while his training ability is not in question one would have to wonder whether he would have ‘made it’ had he had to be the typical salesman trainer pandering to owners.
kickback, disagree with the complex bit. Aidan a very loyal guy, to his family, his huge staff, his owners and not least his horses.
Very straightforward and simple, what you see is what you get. Don’t think he is much into politics (as much as the press / media surmise and probably want him to be) despite the regular attacks on him talking his horses up as stallion prospects. He obviously loves his horses and they are just like his children, so why wouldn’t he be effusive about them?
Aidan always has time for anyone who speaks to him, is very polite and accords them every respect using their first name in a reply. How many people can you say act with the same dignity that he does in both victory and defeat, especially when you consider the constant pressure he is under from all quarters?
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Well put,
MaoriVenture
– particularly what you say about his being non-political but having a proper love for his charges.
I can’t believe there was even a thread created about this topic.
When one is so successful these things become an issue. Aidan was in no way rude to the interviewer,he had clearly been interrupted in a brilliant moment for him,I’d say he’d gotten about twenty texts as soon as Joseph crossed the line.
If this deserves a thread then doesn’t Richard Hannon Jnr’s childish comments about the Americans treating the British as second class citizens deserve a bigger response? Typical Hannon band wagon,blame anything but their horse when they lose. Also the ground was ”too loose”. Ruining his horse’s chances.
And how about Ryan Moore after his ride on Carlton House in the Derby?
My word he came across as a spoilt little boy who didn’t have his way,crying on tv. Blaming the fact that he lost on the fact that he had to come wide,even though the winner came behind him.I was delighted he was put in his place in the Irish Derby. Where is the horse now?
Well put MauriVenture. I wonder would Johnny,Mick,Jamie and Christy agree with you about loyalty to his staff? Jamie became champion jockey in England after leaving Aidan and Johnny became champion in Ireland after leaving Ballydoyle!Can’t recall any other apprentice getting the care and attention that Joseph got.Great father,poor master.
Now to change the subject; Julien Leparoux gave a model ride to Await the Dawn, the pacemaker for Ballydoyle. Locals could learn from studying his timing on the pacemaker.He never lost touch with the field and never went so slow that he was passed.Following him Joseph gave a wonderful ride to the winner.- Total Posts 17716
Andy
Agree on the sound pacemaking job, though it’s taken Ballydoyle a few years to recognise that local knowledge does make a difference.
No disrespect to Joseph O’B, but my missus could have won on SNA.Don’t think it is a given that anyone would have won on SNA. It has been evident for a few months just how good Joseph is and how he gets a horse to run. There has been a lot of comments about family favourtism (perhaps more on other sites than here) but I think Aiden recognised just what Joseph was able to do on a horse, and as advised by Ballydoyle has been putting the best available jockey on each horse. Could be argued that Joseph should have had more rides (e.g. surprised he didn’t ride Harrisons Cave).
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Regardless of whether I backed SNA, or his pilot’s parentage, the win owed more to medication than it did to riding skill and, no matter how you dress it up, they are dozens (nay, hundreds) of jockeys who would have achieved exactly the same result on him.
JO’B is a really good rider. He won a bronze medal at the Pony European Eventing Championships…which I can tell you is VERY competitive and usually won by the Brits or Germans.
yeah and I won a bronze medal for catechism in my First Communion class.Competitin was fierce. It was usually won by the nuns school.I lied on the test,said I was fasting, but went to confession and pastor said it was time to beat the nuns school and forgot to give me a penance.I was not sure if I was forgiven or not but went to communion anyhow. It still bothers me to this day.I told my father and he said I should have lied some more and won the gold medal.
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