A Long Shadow

By Alan Conway

What is your earliest memory of the Epsom Derby? Is it when Sir Ivor sprouted wings and sprinted past Connuaght in 1968? Maybe Nijinsky, Shergar or Dancing Brave? In recent times does Galileo, High Chaparral or Sea The Stars stir the memory? The Epsom Derby is the race, along with the Grand National, that grabs the attention of the whole sporting world. It has a history as deep and rich as any sporting event. There may be other Derbies in the world, but for me there is only one true Derby.

My earliest memory of the Epsom Derby is not of the race, but of a story. Each year in at the beginning of June my father would regale me with stories of the great race. I listened captivated by these great horses tackling a course like no other. My father would describe the climb that they take for the better part of five furlongs. How the horses level off before they sweep down Tattenham Corner and face the most famous home straight in racing. These stories fuelled my love of racing. Regardless of how poor a Derby may be the winner still has an aura about him. To me a Derby winner is special.

One common theme crept into these stories year after year. Vincent O’Brien. I heard tales of this wonder trainer who brought his horses from Ballydoyle, a place shrouded in mystique and intrigue to win the Derby. It is a year since Vincent O’Brien passed away and the influence that the great man had on the Derby remains as powerful today as it did 20 years ago.

This year will see the inaugural running of the Vincent O’Brien stakes at Epsom. The race, named in his honour, will see a nod given to the greatest trainer of all time and his contribution to the Derby.

There is no question that Vincent O’Brien placed great emphasis on winning the Derby. In the early stages of his career the prestige may have meant more to him than anything else. However when Sir Ivor came along there was a different reason for winning the Derby. It then became a stallion making race for Vincent, even more so when he joined forces with Robert Sangster and John Magnier.

A case in point was The Minstrel. Bought for 200,000 dollars in America he won the Derby by the slimmest of margins from Hot Grove. Shortly afterwards he was syndicated to stud for 9 million dollars. Much of that valuation came from the success at Epsom.

From Larkspur to Golden Fleece Vincent O’Brien put his heart into the Derby. It is thanks to him that we have some magical moments in Derby history. There was the majestic Nijinsky who took the Derby on his way to the Triple Crown with a grace and elan that few have matched, his son Golden Fleece who won in such devastating style and, who can forget The Minstrel and Lester Piggot in 1977.

Vincent was the first trainer to spot the potential of Northern Dancer and through his sons Nijinsky and The Minstrel the Northern Dancer line has become the most dominant sire line in the Derby’s recent history. He was the first and only trainer to install his own version of Tattenham Corner in his training complex where it is now used by his namesake Aidan O’Brien at Ballydoyle.

It would be fitting if this year the winner of the Derby came from Ballydoyle. Both of Coolmore’s main contenders, Jan Vermeer and Midas Touch are great-grandsons of Northern Dancer, the stallion who shaped the Derby and the career of Vincent O’Brien. His legacy lives on.

By Alan Conway