Aidan O'Brien: behinds the scenes at Ballydoyle ahead of the Derby

At 7.15 every morning in the heart of County Tipperary, the greatest Flat trainer of all time casts a watchful gaze over 50 blue-blooded thoroughbreds, thoughtfully giving out instructions to each rider by name.

Aidan O’Brien has called Ballydoyle home for exactly three decades, during which time he has broken numerous records, reaching a scarcely believable 28 top-level winners in 2017 and surpassing 400 Group One winners overall on the Flat.

Everything O’Brien’s operation and the nearby Coolmore Stud do is geared towards Epsom, quite simply. He has saddled a record eleven Derby winners and ten winners of the Coronation Cup, plus he is two shy of becoming the joint winning-most trainer in the history of the Oaks, having so far trained 11 winners of the premier fillies’ Classic.

In fact the history of Derby success at Ballydoyle goes back further, starting with Larkspur in 1962, trained by O’Brien’s predecessor, the great Vincent O’Brien. Between them both, 17 winners of the great race have been trained out of the picturesque base near Fethard, though Ballydoyle now caters for more than three times as many horses.

‘The Thoroughbred exists because its selection has depended, not on experts, technicians or zoologists, but on a piece of wood: the winning post of the Epsom Derby,' coined the legendary breeder, Federico Tesio. Whilst commercial bloodstock interests have changed over time, that sentence has stood the test of time as far as Coolmore and Ballydoyle are concerned.

This ultimate test over a mile and a half continues to be the focal point for the Coolmore Stud partnership, who breed and spend millions on the finest bloodstock around the world every year.

The likes of Galileo, High Chaparral, Camelot, Australia, Auguste Rodin and City Of Troy have all followed in the hoofprints of the Vincent O’Brien-trained Sir Ivor, Nijinsky, Roberto and El Gran Senor by winning at Epsom on the first Saturday in June. Their legacy continues to live on.

Speaking at a media morning organised by The Jockey Club on Tuesday, the 28-time Champion Flat trainer, who has been crowned Champion Irish Jumps trainer five times for good measure, plus Champion Flat trainer in Britain on eight occasions, said: “Epsom is the ultimate test in every way. It tests mentally, physically, left, right. There's no second to Epsom anywhere in the world, the test it is."

“The Derby is the ultimate test because of the contour of the track, the atmosphere and the strain, both mentally and physically. They have to get the trip – they have to go down on the track and then come back on the track.

“It’s a very, very tough, unique place and that is why the Derby is what it is. It engages the whole thoroughbred breed and tests them in every way. There is no other race or track anywhere in the world that can do it like that.

“There is nowhere to hide in the Derby. You have to have pace, ability, you have to stay and you have to be like concrete mentally. All the things are tested.

Yet, despite O’Brien’s extraordinary numbers and record-breaking success, the Champion Trainer admits he never takes anything for granted, not even ahead of this year’s Betfred Derby, for which his colts still dominate the ante-post betting with less than four weeks to go. 

Speaking at a media morning organised by The Jockey Club on Tuesday, the 28-time Champion Flat trainer, who has been crowned Champion Irish Jumps trainer five times for good measure, plus Champion Flat trainer in Britain on eight occasions, said: “We’re never surprised by anything.”

“Believe me, the weirdest, strangest, maddest, craziest things can happen – but w do our best for it to happen. We think as clearly as we can, but then you go back and you say, ‘why the hell did I do that or why did we do that?’ We don’t take one race for granted and those Group Ones are difficult to win.”

It is typical of O’Brien to underplay his success. Watch any interview with him after winning a big race, such as the French 1000 Guineas with Diamond Necklace on Sunday, and he will quickly reel off a list of names to thank, keen to deflect praise away from himself and towards his hard-working team of staff.

Behind the scenes, he is a meticulous planner and a picture of concentration, and can reel off endless information about every horse and pedigree at the press of a button.  

Despite such a vast array of thoroughbreds, however, the environment at Ballydoyle is a calm one. Everyone knows their jobs and the horses feed into this energy. Even on a Monday morning having completed far gentler work on Sunday, the horses are far from fresh. They go about their business professionally and are relaxed in the serene environment in the foothills of the Slievenamon mountain.

O’Brien speaks to each and every rider after their work, addressing each by name, but little instructions are needed before this, despite the fact the Master of Ballydoyle carries no fewer than four radios to keep in contact with his vast team.

On his 2026 Betfred Derby contenders, O’Brien explained: “At the moment, we are looking at the horse that won the Chester Vase, Benvenuto Cellini, for Epsom. We are also looking at the horse that ran yesterday, Pierre Bonnard, for Epsom.

 “Constitution River could possibly go to France - it’s not written in stone. The two horses that went to France for their trials (Montreal and Hawk Mountain), the plan with both of them was definitely to go to France. Those two went to Chantilly around the track and everything.

 “Constitution River went to Chester knowing that he could be an Epsom or a French horse. And we were happy that it was a mile and a quarter, just in case he was going to go to France. The only thing is, if he goes to France, he's only left-handed so far - he didn't go right-handed yet.

 “We felt, and the way it was looking, he looked very different going through all his work. He looked very good last year. He had a good long break. And what happened is we were kind of hoping and expecting that it could happen. He seems to have come out of the race well.

 “We think the horse that ran yesterday (Pierre Bonnard, runner-up in the Cashel Palace Hotel Derby Trial at Leopardstown) is going to step up again. He's going to get a mile and a half and could get further.

 “The horse that won the Vase, Benvenuto Cellini, we think he's a mile and a half horse that wouldn't be going any further and he could come back to a mile and a quarter. Pierre Bonnard would have no problem going up to a mile and six (furlongs).

 “Constitution River is one of those mile-and-a-quarter horses that could get a mile and a half, but you couldn't be sure. If you were riding him over a mile and a half, you'd be riding him a bit patiently. But he's a lot of speed and a lot of class.

 “Benvenuto Cellini has speed and class as well. He has a big open stride and looks like a horse that you would be surprised if he didn't get a mile and a half, but at the same time, you would be surprised if he gets much further. 

 “Pierre Bonnard was a massive, big horse and we purposely let him get as big as we could over the winter and as strong as we could because we didn't want him to turn into a shell early. So, we felt we had to run him (in the Ballysax Stakes). The race went a bit wrong and he was needing to run. Because he was where he was, we couldn't go, say, and attack into him and have him really ready for yesterday because then we wouldn't carry on to the Derby. So, we had to do it gently.

 “We stripped him back a bit more for Leopardstown yesterday. The pace was probably too slow for him, but he still ran very well. I would think and we think that he would step up big time next time going a mile and a half.

 “I think Ryan would find it very hard to get off Benvenuto Cellini but I would imagine if Constitution River went (for The Derby), he would probably get off of Benvenuto Cellini. But it wouldn't be written in stone.”

Whatever happens at Epsom on the first Saturday in June, one thing is for sure, Coolmore and Ballyodoyle's obsession with the world's greatest Flat race shows no signs of slowing down.