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Vincent O'Brien - The Official Biography
Vincent O'Brien is a horse-racing legend. Recently voted horse racing's 'greatest of all time', ahead of familiar names like Lester Piggott, the Queen Mother and Sheikh Mohammed, O'Brien won every race that matters in Britain and Ireland over his fifty-year career and is without doubt the best and most versatile racehorse trainer the sport has ever known.
O'Brien is the only man to have trained three consecutive Grand National winners. He won three consecutive Gold Cups and three consecutive Champion Hurdles. He has had extraordinary success in flat racing too - six Derby winners, three winners of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, three King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winners and twenty-five races at Royal Ascot. He trained some of the best-known racehorses in the history of the sport - including Nijinsky, winner of the Triple Crown in 1970.
His life has been a fascinating one. From humble beginnings in County Cork, he chose to train racehorses as his career - much to the benefit of the sport - and went on to create the legendary Ballydoyle Stables. Here his extraordinary story is told by his wife, Jacqueline, and distinguished racing writer Ivor Herbert. Lavishly illustrated with her personal and public photographs that span his amazing life, this book is a must for anyone with an interest in horses or racing.
O'Brien is the only man to have trained three consecutive Grand National winners. He won three consecutive Gold Cups and three consecutive Champion Hurdles. He has had extraordinary success in flat racing too - six Derby winners, three winners of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, three King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winners and twenty-five races at Royal Ascot. He trained some of the best-known racehorses in the history of the sport - including Nijinsky, winner of the Triple Crown in 1970.
His life has been a fascinating one. From humble beginnings in County Cork, he chose to train racehorses as his career - much to the benefit of the sport - and went on to create the legendary Ballydoyle Stables. Here his extraordinary story is told by his wife, Jacqueline, and distinguished racing writer Ivor Herbert. Lavishly illustrated with her personal and public photographs that span his amazing life, this book is a must for anyone with an interest in horses or racing.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 2, 2006
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About the author
Jacqueline O'Brien
9 booksGraduate of University of Western Australia. Author and photographer. Former President of St Catherine's College, University of Western Australia.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 9, 2019
A fascinating biography of one of the great, great horse racing trainers of the 20th century. It took too long, for my tastes, to move from jump racing (which I don't follow and have no interest in) to flat racing, but O'Brien's singular impact on both sports, so very rare in horse racing, was amazing. I enjoyed following the stories of some of my favorite overseas racers in a way I had only been on the far edges of before: Nijinsky, Storm Bird, Royal Academy. And seeing the beginnings of the now thoroughly dominant Coolmore enterprise was very interesting as well.
September 10, 2020
Excellent and informative book.
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March 27, 2016The book started out a little slow for the first 15 pages or so then it sucked me in. If you like horse racing I highly recommend reading this, it lets you see a little into the mind of one of the greatest trainers of all time and lets you go behind the scenes into the world of a genius.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews