Aidan O'Brien: Profile, Winners, Career & Earnings

Aidan O'Brien is the dominant force in European Flat racing, the Irishman winning most of the major races across the continent and much further afield in what already amounts to a career of unparalleled success.

The Master of Ballydoyle has won a record 10 renewals of the Epsom Derby among his stunning tally of Classics in Britain and Ireland, and he shows little sign of slowing up.

Age: 55

Epsom Derby Winners: 10

Epsom Earnings: £17,870,166

Net worth: £34m (estimated)

About Aidan O'Brien

O'Brien started out on his racing journey at the Curragh with trainer PJ Finn before serving as assistant to Jim Bolger. He took out his own license in 1993 and has since rewritten the history books, being crowned Ireland's champion trainer in prize money terms every year since 1999.

He became the first trainer to win the Epsom Derby three years in a row when Australia won in 2014 and he has experienced victory in The Oaks 10 times.

His haul of Classics in Britain also includes the 2000 Guineas on 10 occasions and the 1000 Guineas seven times, alongside eight St Leger wins.

He has an incredible 53 Irish Classics to his name, including 16 victories in the Irish Derby at the Curragh.

Aidan O'Brien Age

O'Brien was born on 16th October, 1969 in Co. Wexford, Ireland. He is 55-years-old.

Aidan O'Brien Net Worth

An exact figure is difficult to assess given the nature of horse racing, with fees, associated costs and prize money cuts to be defined, but O'Brien is estimated to be worth over £34,000,000.

Aidan O'Brien Horses

O'Brien has trained some of the best thoroughbreds of this century. His first Epsom Derby winner was Galileo in 2001, the horse that went on to become an era-defining sire, while he has also won the world's oldest Classic with High Chaparral (2002), Camelot (2012), Ruler of the World (2013), Australia (2014), Wings of Eagles (2017), Anthony Van Dyck (2019), Serpentine (2020), Auguste Rodin (2023) and City Of Troy (2024).

His Oaks breakthrough came with Shahtoush in 1998 and the likes of Imagine, Alexandrova, Was, Qualify, Minding and Love have all followed suit since, among others.

Camelot was a special horse in O'Brien's lifetime, winning the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Epsom Derby in 2012 before finishing second in the St Leger at Doncaster as he came close to becoming the first horse since Nijinsky to win the Triple Crown.

O'Brien also produced a superstar over jumps, the great Istabraq winning three Champion Hurdles at Cheltenham from 1998 onwards.

Aidan O'Brien Achievements

O'Brien's litany of big-race wins means he has truly redefined the boundaries of what is possible in his sport, with his litany of big-race wins the world over. He has won just about every major race imaginable, though the Breeders' Cup Classic and Melbourne Cup are two omissions on his CV.

In 2016, the mare Found led home a famous one-two-three in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for O'Brien, who has won Europe's premier middle distance race on two occasions.

Yeats won the Ascot Gold Cup four years running for the Ballydoyle supremo from 2006-2009, another record, and the trainer has a running tally of nine wins in the stayers' prize – another record.

O'Brien and his wife, Anne-Marie Crowley, have four children that have all sampled success as jockeys.

In 2012, O'Brien and Joseph, still a teenager, became the first father-son/trainer-jockey combination to win The Derby at Epsom. Joseph and Donnacha O'Brien are now successful trainers in their own right.

Aidan O'Brien Best Jockey

Previously, Mick Kinane and Johnny Murtagh were the retained riders at Ballydoyle, both contributing heavily to the success of the yard.

Joseph O'Brien rode extensively for his father before turning to training, as did his younger brother Donnacha.

Nowadays, Ryan Moore is the stable jockey for the Co. Tipperary operation.

Moore, son of English trainer Gary, is widely acclaimed as the greatest jockey of his generation and has helped O'Brien to several significant successes the world over.