Training is easy

[The Tatling Cheekily]

After all the praising of trainers being Genius’. The junior O’Briens have proved it’s all about having the right bred horses surely.

All the fawning over Stoute, Cecil, is nonsense. Given the right blood lines it’s a bobby’s job.

BUY THE SUN

[greenasgrass]

Those boys were apprenticed to the master for about 15 years before going out on their own. (And their mum was champion NH trainer before she handed over her stables to her husband and got in the kitchen). Of course that, plus having the financial backing to concentrate on training from the start in good facilities (I doubt they’re shovelling **** and feeding cattle to make ends meet while they get started) and well bred horses pressed into their hands from the get go puts them ahead of the opposition. But they still have to have the intelligence to benefit from their early experience and the work ethic to apply it.

[The Tatling Cheekily]

I was being deliberately obtuse with my OP, but the admirable young O’Briens have proven that the route to the very top is more reliant on nepotism and ammunition, than ability.

BUY THE SUN

[greenasgrass]

I suppose it’s impossible to know, but out of both codes and on each side of the Irish Sea, if you gave each trainer a cross section of horses good and bad, same facilities and finances and did a Face/Off style thing changing their names and appearance and cut them off from the contacts of family so they had to make it on their own and nobody knew who they were, who would be in the top 5 after 10 years?

[Cancello]

When trying to guess who would fare best if starting from scratch with mediocre stock, we at least know who has done it from scratch, irrespective of whether they were/are universally popular. Mark Johnston worked himself up the ladder from the days he was based in Lincolnshire with all those ‘Hinari’ owned and sponsored horses. Pipe had local small and medium sized businesses sending him relatively cheap stock, while Clive Cox started from taking over Micky Heaton – Ellis’s low profile string. Another interesting one for the mix is the late Roger Fisher who was based in Ulverston and had other good horses as well as the one he was famed for – the mighty Ekbalco. He was in the chemical business and if memory serves obtained his licence without having a great deal of experience in the game.

[Nathan Hughes]

Placing them is important to

Frankel for instance

Cecil

Guineas
St James Palace Stakes
Sussex

O’Brien

Guineas
Derby
July Cup

Hannon

Guineas
Irish Guineas
French Guineas
German Guineas

Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026

[mickeyjp]

Donnacha and Joseph are fortunate in the sense that they have been learning their trade since they were kids and of course had aiden to guide them. Even with that they have done remarkably well. Joseph doesn’t have the top coolmore horses and has mostly built up his owners training for guys like Lloyd Williams. He has an eye for a horse and is filled with Australia and zoffany progeny and no doubt Churchill as well. The advantage he has is finding owners where the family name I’m sure is a massive help. Donnacha has made an amazing start especially as he has trained mostly the backward coolmore smith/tabor horses. Joseph now looks to be aidens main rival in Ireland on the flat and to Mullins and Elliot over jumps. I’m sure there is a lot of jealousy towards the O’Brien’s but the work their asses of and in my eyes are a tremendous examples to others.

[Author]

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