Aidan O’Brien

Paddington emerged victorious but Eclipse was an enthralling duel

15 July 2023 9:00 am

I should have listened to George Duffield. Sandown Park’s Eclipse Stakes, the first time the Classic generation of three-year-olds take…

The 4,000 spectators at Sandown Park weren’t short-changed

10 July 2021 9:00 am

When only four horses were declared to contest this year’s Coral Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park, there were the usual…

The Derby was a game of musical saddles

12 June 2021 9:00 am

We all know it takes courage to win races over jumps, along with athleticism, stamina and speed. But you need…

In a jam: what Goodwood did with 900 punnets of strawberries

8 August 2020 9:00 am

It was to have been, if not a glorious return, at least an encouraging one. On the Stewards’ Cup day…

Why the Derby is the ultimate test

8 June 2019 9:00 am

There is a danger that memories of the 2019 Epsom Derby will be swamped by statistics. By training his seventh…

The thoroughbred exists because of a piece of wood: the winning post of the Epsom Derby

9 June 2018 9:00 am

In the previous 17 runnings of the Derby this century no fewer than nine had been won by horses trained…

There is no escaping the O’Brien factor

12 May 2018 9:00 am

I suppose, given the income and the opportunity to indulge, you could eventually tire of even Meursault, Mauritius and Mrs…

Be warned: the mighty Air Force Blue blows away all before him

17 October 2015 9:00 am

I was both delighted and unsurprised that Denis Healey made it to 98. One day in the 1970s I took…

Cambridge, meet your first professor of racing lore

14 June 2014 9:00 am

Watching the contestants parade at Epsom for this year’s Oaks, I remembered the great D. Wayne Lukas’s pronouncement on selecting…