Classic glory remains at the heart of Aidan O’Brien’s ambition

The statue of Nijinsky as you roll through the gates of Ballydoyle serves as a telling reminder of what this quiet corner of Tipperary is all about.

This is Classic country, a place where the racehorse is king and where each year’s select intake into this hallowed equine academy is nurtured, honed and turned into champions.

For a first time visitor it is to step into racing utopia, a place where the eyes widen and jaw drops in amazement at the precision preparations undertaken in serene tranquillity.

However, for the man at the helm Aidan O’Brien it is a place he has called home for the past 30 years, a place of work and somewhere from which he has amassed 48 English Classic victories, the races his employers Coolmore hold most dear.

Over the next six weeks the next band of Classic hopefuls will be sent into battle, firstly in the Guineas, then the respective Classic trials and then on the first weekend in June, the Derby.

In that small matter of time four of the races that Ballydoyle was designed for will be won and for O’Brien their importance will never be questioned, as 2026’s dreams will soon become reality.

“At the moment we are very happy with the horses we are training for the Guineas and the trials but the next few weeks will tell us everything,” said O’Brien.

“Classic horses have to be early, they have to be tough, they have to run distance and that is how it has always been and is something that will never change.

“You don’t have another parameter to judge against and if you ask any breeder that has ever bred a horse or any trainer they will want a Classic winner.

“What they do afterwards doesn’t really matter because these races are so competitive. Some will go on and some won’t, but still there is that bar to measure them against.”

The brainchild of Vincent O’Brien, the legend of Ballydoyle may have begun with the likes of The Minstrel, Sadler’s Wells and the triple crown hero whose statue greets those on arrival.

However, this equine paradise set against a vista of rolling mountains has been transcended into superpower status by his namesake who has maintained the highest standards, becoming the leading trainer in both the 2000 Guineas and Derby during three decades in residency.

“Everything here is about what the horses do at two and three as they are the ones who go to stud and are early maturing horses that have all had class and speed,” said O’Brien.

“Classic horses are supposed to have speed as well as stamina and the milers have to be sprinters that stay. When you run over that mile at Newmarket, you are down hill all the way and you just need speed and then if you don’t stay you don’t win. It’s a tough race to win.

“Then when you go to Epsom over a mile and a half, you need some speed, of course the stamina and you are also getting thrown all over the place. It’s tough.

“There is nowhere like Epsom really – it’s such a tough track and every part of the horse is tested. If you ask anyone what race they would like to win, they will tell you it’s the Derby. We try our best to win it every year.”

While the Derby has been truly mastered in recent years, with O’Brien winning the last three – and six of his 11 in the last decade – Newmarket and the first Classic of summer has proven harder to conquer of late.

Both Auguste Rodin and City Of Troy have faltered on the Rowley Mile before dazzling at Epsom, but there is no deviation from the tried and tested from O’Brien, who will saddle both Puerto Rico and Precise – like those that have gone before them – without a prep run.

Explaining the process, O’Brien said: “Every year we don’t really want the horses coming right until the first week of May and we have lots of runners up to then, but they are only really feelers up until that date and that’s when we want to start peaking.

“With the Guineas horses it’s just difficult to get a run into them early in the year unless you really have to because the ground is tough and they can get gruellers.

“We probably were forcing it a little with City Of Troy and Auguste Rodin and I probably went to the mile before they were ready as well. It might not be their fault and obviously when it doesn’t happen it is because I haven’t got them prepared properly.

“There’s no point getting away from that and I just have to do better the next time.

“I’m happy though with the horses we have for the Guineas and the horses we have for the Derby and Oaks and I think we definitely have the chances there.”

If both versions of the Guineas were to be captured next weekend – and with leading contenders for the remaining crown jewel contests of the three-year-old season – it would set up the tantalising prospect of O’Brien claiming all five Classics in one season.

It is something the 56-year-old came closest to doing in 2012 when Camelot was agonisingly denied emulating Nijinsky and winning the Triple Crown. O’Brien also landed four of the five in 2017 when only the great Enable denied the clean sweep.

O’Brien said: “I would try to do it every year, but it is difficult. With every single Group One we are doing everything in our power to win them, but they are difficult.

“I remember going with Rhododendron to the Oaks and thought she couldn’t get beat and Enable beat us. She beat us as well in Chester when we had a good filly going who I thought couldn’t get beat and what are the chances of running into Enable that year?

“We nearly won the Triple Crown with Camelot and you are always looking for the next one. It’s not easy but if it was that would be no good. It’s part of the pull of it that it’s so difficult.

“That is what makes the Classics so exciting and horses can come out of anywhere. They arrive hidden but are then are exposed and the history of it, the English Classics, is what the whole thoroughbred breed is based on.”