O'Brien honoured at Moyglare Dinner

Trainer Aidan O'Brien and the Organising Committee behind 2014's hugely successful Champions Weekend, both received presentations from the Turf Club at the annual Moyglare Dinner which was held in the K Club, on Saturday evening.

Every year at the dinner the Turf Club honours an individual or an organisation which has had an exceptional year or who over a period of time has made an exceptional contribution to Irish racing.

The presentation was made by Turf Club Senior Steward Neville O'Byrne, who also gave the annual Moyglare speech.

Aidan O'Brien was honoured for his historic achievement in training a third Epsom Derby winner in a row with Australia, following on the successes of Ruler of the World"(2013) and Camelot in 2012 .

Speaking of Aidan's achievement Neville O'Byrne said "Aidan O'Brien is no stranger to breaking records. He has already trained multiple Group one winners and in 2014 he trained his 11th winner of the Irish Derby since 1997".

"However it is not for the creation of that record that Aidan is receiving his presentation tonight but for another record he set in 2014 in relation to the Epsom Derby. The Epsom Derby was run for the first time in 1780. Since then it has been run on 235 occasions .

However in 2014 Aidan achieved something that no trainer has ever achieved before in the history of the race when he became the first person to train three consecutive winners of the race - an incredible achievement." 

"In the process he was recording his fifth Epsom Derby winner and his 21st Classics win in the UK".

At the dinner the Turf Club also honoured the organising committee behind the hugely successful Champions Weekend which took place at Leopardstown and the Curragh, 13th and 14th September.

In making the presentation Neville O'Byrne, said: "Starting from scratch the committee, along with the various sponsors and partners,  put together a racing extravaganza over the two days which was an unqualified success. With total prize money of over €3.7m and attendances over 24,000 we saw the best of flat racing that this country has to offer."

"For the first time we welcomed QIPCO as a sponsor and this enabled the prize fund for the Champion Stakes to be raised to €1m. With 50% of the races being won by British trained runners  this will no doubt encourage overseas trainers to come back in greater numbers next year and make the weekend even more competitive".