Let's talk about... Aidan O'Brien's greatest horses

Who was the best horse Aidan O'Brien trained, or what were his finest training performances? Share your thoughts with us via racingfeedback@sportinglife.com and they will appear at the foot of the article.

Ben Linfoot - Galileo

Where do you start with GALILEO? Probably his career as a racehorse, as it was quick and fluent, but brilliant – just like Galileo himself.

The first sign of his talent came on his very first run. A backend Leopardstown juvenile maiden on heavy ground, he won by 14 lengths. “He’s definitely top class,” said Aidan O’Brien, an understatement in hindsight, but an eyebrow-raising comment at the time for a once-raced juvenile.

Next were his first two starts at three. Both were at Leopardstown in the spring of 2001, in the Ballysax and the Derrinstown, a route that became synonymous with O’Brien’s best Derby horse. He won them both, easily, and went to Epsom as his trainer’s sole runner.

Sent off as the 11/4 favourite for the Derby with Golan, he beat Sir Michael Stoute’s 2000 Guineas winner by three-and-a-half lengths and that winning distance more than doubled when they banged heads once again in Ireland.

Galileo was getting better and he proved it with a fabulous two-length defeat of star older horse Fantastic Light in a classic King George at Ascot that summer.

The Godolphin horse, of course, gained his revenge in the Irish Champion Stakes. The drop back to 10 furlongs and a rare tactical lapse from Ballydoyle helped him reverse the form by a head in a thriller. Galileo was beaten for the first time.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t his last defeat. That came in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on the Belmont Park dirt where he was sixth behind Tiznow. He was retired on the spot.

It would’ve been fascinating to see if he could have improved again at four. Beaten only once on turf – and that by a head over 10 furlongs – he still had an air of invincibility over a mile-and-a-half and he could well have hit even greater heights at four giving weight to the new Classic generation.

As it is he sits second on 134 on Timeform ratings in Aidan O’Brien’s all-time list, 2lb shy of Hawk Wing. There’s no doubt in my mind Galileo was the superior horse on the track and as for his legacy, well, he’s the undisputed champion sire that has become a sire of great sires.

Frankel, Nathaniel, Rip Van Winkle, Waldgeist, Australia, Ulysses, Cape Blanco, New Approach, Order Of St George and Soldier Of Fortune. It could be a top 10 of great racehorses this century, but all are sons of Galileo. And then there are his best daughters like Found and Magical and Minding.

Churchill, praised by Richard Mann in this very article, scrapes into the top 15 of sons of Galileo on Racing Post Ratings.

Being a half-brother to Sea The Stars, it seems cruel that Galileo isn’t even the best horse in his own family. But he’s the best horse O’Brien ever trained, arguably, so far, and it’s hard to imagine his success as a stallion ever being surpassed.

Matt Brocklebank - So You Think

SO YOU THINK remains quite a rare commodity in that Aidan O'Brien doesn't get the opportunity to handle many horses who have been trained by someone other than himself.

Here was a horse who arrived from Australia with a massive reputation and while he was clearly a very welcome addition to the yard (reported £40m deal to take him there), the pressure was on O'Brien and the team at Ballydoyle not to mess things up.

So You Think was trained by Bart Cummings Down Under and in 2009-2010 went on a meteoric journey which started with him winning a small seven-furlong handicap at Rosehill and culminated in finishing third in the Melbourne Cup the following season.

By the time that race came along he'd won five Group Ones, including the Cox Plate twice, and there was talk of a glorious retirement ahead of Flemington, for which he was sent off 2/1 favourite - the shortest priced runner in the race since 1971.

On the day he produced a staggering performance on ground much softer than ideal. After pulling hard early, he waltzed to the front after straightening for home and looked booked for Aussie immortality before the petrol gauge hit zero inside the final 100 yards or so.

The plan was hatched by Coolmore to switch him to Europe and while Cummings didn't seem all that impressed by the whole story - or the way that O'Brien was training him - the horse lived up to his reputation on many occasions in Britain and Ireland, adding six more wins to his tally, five at Group One level, and ending up with a Timeform rating of 133.

O'Brien admitted after the 2012 Prince of Wales's Stakes - which turned out to be So You Think's final public outing - that he'd got a few things wrong and issued a public apology to the son of High Chaparral's disgruntled fan base back home, but in truth there was little to be sorry about.

So You Think had beaten the previous year's Derby and Arc winner Workforce in the 2011 Coral-Eclipse, and the previous year's Oaks winner Snow Fairy in the Irish Champion Stakes later that season, while he lost precious little in defeat when edged out by French colossus Cirrus Des Aigles in the Champion Stakes at Ascot.

Was he O'Brien's finest training achievement? Probably not. But when it comes to the greatest horses to have passed through the trainer's hands it's hard to argue the well-travelled So You Think isn't among those battling for the title.

Richard Mann - Churchill

I’m not going to argue that CHURCHILL is one of the best horses to have passed through Aidan O’Brien’s hands in an already remarkable and record-breaking training career, but I will try to make the case that he came very close to greatness before heading off to retirement slightly underrated.

The fact Churchill ended his career with a whimper in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar having been beaten in the QEII, Irish Champion Stakes and Juddmonte International before that ensures his legacy will be forever tarnished somewhat.

Nevertheless, it’s important to remember just how brilliant a racehorse Churchill was as a two-year-old and then when landing the England and Irish 2000 Guineas in the style of a real champion.

What went wrong thereafter is a question to which we will never truly know the answer, but there is no doubt his light diminished a little after a near-faultless beginning to his career that had threatened to catapult him to top of the Ballydoyle pecking order, past and present.

Rewind to the beginning of his juvenile campaign and he had everything; speed, size, a beautiful action and the heart of a lion which helped claim Royal Ascot success before then adding the Tyros Stakes and National Stakes to his CV.

He rounded off the season with a brilliant victory in the Dewhurst at Newmarket, one which saw him beat the likes of Blue Point and Rivet in a time faster than the mighty Frankel had recorded when he won the same race only a few years earlier.

When his day of destiny arrived in the 2000 Guineas the following spring, Churchill didn’t disappoint as he produced an authoritative winning performance that was only matched when he landed the Irish equivalent at the Curragh a few weeks later.

By this time regular pilot Ryan Moore was, unusually for him, struggling to contain his excitement about Churchill while the Ballydoyle PR machine was also in overdrive.

Then disaster struck. The team at Ballydoyle were quick to offer legitimate excuses for his odds-on defeat in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot but despite going down on his shield when returning from a mid-summer break in the Juddmonte at York, Churchill could only finish second to the impressive Ulysses.

Another placed effort on British Champions Day at Ascot was as good as it got for Churchill thereafter and suddenly the would be champion headed for the exit door an almost forgotten figure and a long way from the superstar horse so many had predicted he would become only a few months earlier.

Whether Churchill’s early-season exploits had left their mark to such an extent he was never able to match that level of form afterwards is one possible theory for his demise, or maybe the impressive physique that set him apart as a two-year-old was no longer as advantageous as his peers caught up with him through the year.

It’s a question even O’Brien himself might not know the answer to but there is little doubting that when he was on song; that big, strong, fluent action devouring the ground beneath him as he overpowered any number of high-class performers, Churchill was near unbeatable. That’s certainly how I remember him, anyway.

Send us your views

Send who you think was Aidan O'Brien's best horse and other contributions to racingfeedback@sportinglife.com and if you’ve any ideas for more topics you want covering over the coming days and weeks, please let us know.

Feedback from readers

Alan Farnsworth: This is a hard call, there’s been so many over the years. Galileo has to figure given his combined racing and stud record both as sire and sire of sires, and nobody can argue with Yeats, surely one of the greatest ever stayers.

But Giant’s Causeway enthralled whenever he ran, consistently combining class and courage by the bucket load, became, I think, revered for his warrior-like spirit and defined the word tough in a racehorse....he truly had star quality, the “wow” factor, not forgetting the five Group 1’s on the spin - he’s top in my book.....just. A close second, and amazingly not even mentioned (??), Dylan Thomas, who won the Irish Derby, King George, gave Aidan with his first victory in the Arc de Triomphe and is the only horse to win the Irish Champion Stakes twice (some roll of honour that one!); Kieron Fallon no less once stated he was the best he ever rode. Third and also forgotten, the dashing Henry the Navigator who graced the turf in the spring and summer of 2008, reeling off the English- Irish Guineas double, St James Palace and Sussex Stakes – a great miler!

A mention too for “The Duke” of Marmalade, similarly unsung, and whilst not with quite the brilliance of the ill-fated gorgeous George Washington, was nonetheless very solid as a 4-year old and deserves to join the party.

Dave Parker: O'Brien greats interesting that you run that the same day as O'Brien highlights from the archives. Without doubt Galileo has to be top of the tree racing exploits, and top stallion world wide. Without doubt a great race horse and sire that will Influence racing for many years to come. Reading the pundits choices they have their choices. Personally my choices would be Yeats and Istabraq. Apparently Istabraq was very fragile to train yet he won 3 Champion hurdles and other accolades and it is proof that Aidan OBrien could do what his predecessor at Coolmore had done forty plus years earlier before going entirely to flat racing. I choose Yeats achievements in the Ascot Gold Cup is outstanding. There are so few races to aim for apart from the very top flight over the gold cup distance. Yeats ran over all distances, yes he got beaten but he also won over these shorter distances. An outstanding horse and in my mind should be given more recognition.

Andrew Pelis: For me Istabraq was the greatest horse Aidan O'Brien has trained. He dominated the hurdling division over the course of four years, literally laughing at the very best opposition and winning three Champion Hurdles and four consecutive times at the Cheltenham Festival. At the time, Aidan was still climbing the ranks and whilst Desert King gave him and Irish Guineas and Irish Derby, soon followed by King Of Kings at Newmarket, Istabraq towered above these at the time. It is never easy to get a horse right and ready to compete at two consecutive Cheltenham Festivals and I would say that Istabraq firmly put AP O'Brien on the map and it proved he could handle the pressure. So really, he was a foundation horse in many ways. On the flat, maybe nostalgia influences the mind somewhat, but I have to go along with Giant's Causeway and Galileo jointly, as Aidan's best two three year-olds. The former disappointed in two Guineas but at the height of his powers was just so competitive and reminded more of Sadler's Wells as a racehorse, than any other. He also showed versatility in terms of direction of racetrack and surface, agonisingly losing out to Tiznow on the dirt. Galileo was a brilliant horse over twelve furlongs and his stock has risen with each passing year in the breeding shed. Perhaps the fact his career ended on two defeats clouds the level he had reached after becoming the last Derby winner to do the King George double. I would also like to mention two juveniles that Aidan trained, that didn't kick on at three, but were brilliant: Fasliyev and Johannesburg. And it would be remiss not to mention Yeats. If we were talking stayers only, then of course he would be the obvious answer, but he could win Group Ones over middle distances too, but perhaps lacked the brilliance over the shorter trip to join Giant's Causeway and Galileo.

Dave Chapman: Hawk Wing for me.

Tony Harbour: YEATS has to be up there. A truly outstanding horse, winning the Ascot Gold Cup 4 times was remarkable. I only ever backed him once, ante post for the derby! (Pulled out 3 days before the big race). KING OF KINGS was a favourite of mine. Winning the 2000 guineas before sadly just one more run in the derby running no race and that was that. Who knows what he would have achieved. Lastly, HAWK WING. Winning the eclipse and famously the Lockinge by miles. I suppose he divides opinions; what makes a great horse? Winning a Lockinge by 11 lengths or consistently winning group 1's as ROCK OF GIBRALTOR did. I think HAWK WING may have been unlucky with Jamie Spencer in the 2000 guineas. He won 'his' race on the stands side by 4 lengths. Makes one realise how lucky we are to have Mr O'Brien in this great sport we all love so much.

Darren Ashworth: My choice would have to be Istabraq. Winner of 3 Champion Hurdles , 4 Irish Champion Hurdles and 23 out of 29 hurdle races. Only foot and mouth disease stopped him becoming the only 4 time Champion Hurdler in my opinion. Flat speed and accurate jumping puts him in the greatest category alongside Night Nurse, Sea Pigeon, Persian War, Bula, Sir Ken et al.

Pete Burnett:

Shane Whittle:

DJTT:

Paul Williams:

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