Principal Trainers: Aidan O’Brien
Notable Wins: Desmond Stakes (Beethoven 2010), Guinness Handicap (Rajik 2010)
A Racing Pedigree
Being the first son of the legendary trainer Aidan O’Brien and one-time Champion Trainer over jumps Anne Marie O’Brien, Joseph O’Brien was certainly bred for success in the racing industry. From when he was a young boy, he could often be seen helping his father saddle up horses on the racecourse and as time progressed, he was noted performing very well in the world of eventing. Indeed, in August 2009, he won a bronze individual eventing medal at the European Pony Championships in Moorsele, Belgium. By that time, he had already begun to ride as an apprentice jockey and there was never any doubt as to which discipline he would end up devoting all his time to.
Early Successes
Joseph took his first ride on the racecourse at the age of just 16 on May 24th 2009 on his father’s Coat Of Arms at the Curragh and while he had no joy on that occasion, he opened his account just four days later when riding Johann Zoffany to win a handicap at Leopardstown. He was soon in demand from many outside trainers and had a notable experience when riding Johann Zoffany at Royal Ascot the following month. The winners continued to flow for all manner of trainers in the months that followed, with him receiving universal acclaim for the standard of his riding. Now being firmly a part of his father’s riding team, Joseph got some wonderful opportunities to ride in big races on his father’s less fancied runners, with his outing in the Irish Derby on Byzantine being particularly notable. However, such a mount almost gave him what would have been one of the most spectacular first-season winners in recent history, with him riding Air Chief Marshal to finish a close second to his stable mate Alfred Nobel in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh in late-July. Joseph continued to progress and improve as the season went on and by its conclusion, he had ridden a very respectable eight winners from 162 rides.
Second Season Success
With study for his upcoming leaving certificate taking centre stage, O’Brien took a couple of months to get back into the swing on things in 2010, riding just a handful of winners up until his exams finished in June, but it wasn’t long after that that he really began to hit full stride. Riding for a wide variety of trainers, O’Brien impressed in winning races on the Pat Flynn-trained Connyella and the Pat O’Donnell-trained Luttrell Lady. Those successes set him up for what would prove to be a memorable Galway Festival. Riding his father’s Robin Hood in a juvenile maiden on the opening day of the meeting, O’Brien executed a well-judged front-running ride to take the spoils, but even better would be forthcoming in the days ahead. On the Wednesday of the meeting, Joseph rode the Eoin Griffin-trained Dusty Trail to win a 12f handicap and while he finished second on the Pat O’Donnell-trained Luttrell Lady in the extended 8f handicap, he got the race in the steward’s room (subsequently changed again on appeal). The following day saw his week get even better, with him riding the Charlie Swan-trained Rajik to a lucrative success in the valuable Guinness Handicap. To ride four winners at such a high-profile meeting did Joseph no harm at all and he has continued his momentum into August, completing a notable double for his father at Leopardstown which included his first win at Group level on Beethoven in the Group 3 Desmond Stakes. Not long after that brace, it soon became clear that O’Brien could well make an unlikely bid for the title of Champion Apprentice despite giving up a big start to Ben Curtis and Gary Carroll.
A Championship Bid
Those wins began what was a remarkable run of success for O’Brien, with him riding a total of no less than 18 winners in the two months that followed, including a treble at Navan in early-October. Unfortunately, he picked up a number of bans during that time, resulting in him missing a month of action not long after that treble. When he eventually returned to action, he was three winners behind Ben Curtis and two winners behind Gary Carroll, but he still strongly fancied to make up that deficit in the remaining five meetings of the season. O’Brien rode a double on his return to action at Dundalk, but not only did he pick up a two-day ban on one of those winners (subsequently reduced to one day on appeal), his two rivals also rode a winner. This was generally considered a hammer blow to O’Brien’s prospects, but he rallied to ride a double on each of the final two cards of the season, drawing level with both Curtis and Carroll with one race of the season remaining. While Carroll looked set to steal the championship in the very last race, his mount was mugged close home, resulting in a three-way tie for the title of Champion Apprentice in a battle that had enthralled the racing public. Considering O’Brien’s slow start to the campaign and substantial ban in October/November, he did remarkably well to share the title.
Joseph O’Brien is improving all the time and while his weight is likely to prove to be a barrier to his long-term future in the saddle, his future almost certainly lies in a career in training and with his pedigree, he can be fully expected to be successful in that discipline too.
Info supplied by Horse Racing Ireland - Updated January 2011
