Joseph O'Brien officially retired

Andalucia

retired jockey at 22, some nice winners in the bag, going to be a force to be reckoned with as a trainer with JP backing

mdwexford

Nice life he got for himself being Aidan's son.

Lucky boy.

Kevhog1988

mdwexford wrote: »

Nice life he got for himself being Aidan's son.

Lucky boy.

you dont ride derby winners without talent

hurleronditch

mdwexford wrote: »

Nice life he got for himself being Aidan's son.

Lucky boy.

Granted he got a free run at it being AOBs young fella and whilst he wasn't to everyone's taste and made many mistakes in his time he was well able to pilot. You don't just find any young lad who weighs 8 stone and throw him on a horse and win derbys

Kevhog1988

hurleronditch wrote: »

Granted he got a free run at it being AOBs young fella and whilst he wasn't to everyone's taste and made many mistakes in his time he was well able to pilot. You don't just find any young lad who weighs 8 stone and throw him on a horse and win derbys

he shared the apprentice title with gay carroll & ben curtis. i dont think either of them would win what he won.

mdwexford

Never said he wasn't talented, growing up around top class animals of course he was going to know his way round a horse.

He certainly got a hell of a push though obviously.

Anyway I like him so good luck to him in his training career.

fits

By all accounts, all the O'Brien kids work hard. Nothing handed to them on a plate either.

NaiveMelodies

mdwexford wrote: »

Nice life he got for himself being Aidan's son.

Lucky boy.

I agree with this attitude. Let's all begrudge him because of who's son he is, forget all the hard work he put in and torture he went through to make weight because of his love for the sport and let's forget his many great successes as a jockey.

diomed

He did well, but I am glad he retired. I hope he will enjoy training. Doing the weight must have been torture.

mdwexford

NaiveMelodies wrote: »

I agree with this attitude. Let's all begrudge him because of who's son he is, forget all the hard work he put in and torture he went through to make weight because of his love for the sport and let's forget his many great successes as a jockey.

Why don't you read my posts instead of posting nonsense.

He would not have had the opportunities if he wasn't Aidans son.
Lets be realistic, he wasn't a good enough jockey for the Ballydoyle job. That's the number 1 job in racing, he would never have been near it if he wasn't who he was.

Why would I begrudge him anything. I certainly wouldn't have turned it down in his position. Obviously he worked hard and did it to the best of abilities. Good for him.

dk6dk6

I found Joseph was a jockey that punters used to love to hate, seems some where always waiting for a mistake from him to have a pop.

Always found him a very underrated jockey who didn't get the credit he deserved. Good luck to him.

Gregk961

mdwexford wrote: »

Why don't you read my posts instead of posting nonsense.

He would not have had the opportunities if he wasn't Aidans son.
Lets be realistic, he wasn't a good enough jockey for the Ballydoyle job. That's the number 1 job in racing, he would never have been near it if he wasn't who he was.

Why would I begrudge him anything. I certainly wouldn't have turned it down in his position. Obviously he worked hard and did it to the best of abilities. Good for him.

It certainly looked like you were begrudging him with your original comment. We've heard this same old recycled crap since he was 16, of course he wouldn't have been Ballydoyle stable jockey if he wasn't an O'brien but that's racing in a a nutshell. Everybody knows sons/daughters/cousins etc get a head start over the rest and that just won't change.

Joseph was a fine jockey, not quite in the upper class but had many great wins on the biggest stages. Always took more criticism than he deserved, and not just from the cavemen that populate the local Ladbrokes but from racing media in general aswell.

I hope he does well training, and even still I'm sure people like yourself will put it down to him being Aidan's son.

Francie Barrett

I think he will be a better trainer than jockey, and he certainly wasn't a bad jockey.

Shur, listen, obviously he's got the genes for either riding or training. Obviously, I wish him well. But, listen, will he be training flat horses in opposition to his father?

blackcard

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Shur, listen, obviously he's got the genes for either riding or training. Obviously, I wish him well. But, listen, will he be training flat horses in opposition to his father?

Half of his horses will be flat horses and half national hunt horses, JP providing the latter. It will be interesting to see what class of horses he gets. I thought he would concentrate on jumpers to avoid competition with his father

Clique

Was always on a hiding to nothing no matter if he won they praised the horse, the horse lost it was his fault. Think there was more to him than just an armchair jockey.

Have to say he did give me one of my best flat memories when winning the Breeder's Cup Turf on St.Nicholas Abbey. I'm sure it was a definite highlight among all the countless major wins they had a great ride on a very good horse.

Think he will do quite alright as a trainer, plenty of experience even for his young age. Hope he does well

diomed

diomed wrote: »

He did well, but I am glad he retired. I hope he will enjoy training. Doing the weight must have been torture.

Saw himself and Frankie Dettori side by side once and wondered how the Hell he could ride as light as he did. He must have been over a foot taller than Frankie!

mdwexford

Gregk961 wrote: »

It certainly looked like you were begrudging him with your original comment. We've heard this same old recycled crap since he was 16, of course he wouldn't have been Ballydoyle stable jockey if he wasn't an O'brien but that's racing in a a nutshell. Everybody knows sons/daughters/cousins etc get a head start over the rest and that just won't change.

Joseph was a fine jockey, not quite in the upper class but had many great wins on the biggest stages. Always took more criticism than he deserved, and not just from the cavemen that populate the local Ladbrokes but from racing media in general aswell.

I hope he does well training, and even still I'm sure people like yourself will put it down to him being Aidan's son.

So you still don't understand.

Oh well.

Gregk961

mdwexford wrote: »

So you still don't understand.

Oh well.

Understand what? Explain your original comment to me. Joseph is the son of the top trainer in Ireland so he had it easier, is that basically your point? It's a wonder you don't have a column. You made the snide comment in the first place, at least back it up with something.

Feel free to retract your original statement if it was just an error on your part.

Shemale

Granted got a good leg up in life being Aidans son, lovely jockey all the same.

Baffled me people knocking him as he is Aidan's son, sure he got nice horses but how many guys 6ft plus could do 8 stone and had the talent and strength to achieve what he has.

Good luck to him, decent jockey and decent bloke, it's the right move for him as it can't have been healthy for him.

He is supposed to have a shrewd eye on him, looking forward to seeing his training career.

Luap

Imagine if he could do the weight and wasn't Aidans son he'd be a cracking jockey in years to come. He was only a youngster.

Shanee.

Any 22 year old jockey with over 500 career wins including 30 group 1's has to be admired regardless of whether he was riding the best horses or not. Such an achievement for a man so young. Best of luck to him in training he has the right people behind him anyway with JP and im sure it wont be long until he is training plenty winners.

knighted

Ruby walsh and katie ,all the carburys , geratys , even charlie swan had trainers for fathers .
all the mullins , byran cooper jane mangan , the mcnamaras the list goes on
Its traditionally been a family affair , thats how the industry works
I remember spencer got the ballydoyle number 1 job because he was magniers godson

Best of luck to joey

Shemale

Shanee. wrote: »

Any 22 year old jockey with over 500 career wins including 30 group 1's has to be admired regardless of whether he was riding the best horses or not. Such an achievement for a man so young. Best of luck to him in training he has the right people behind him anyway with JP and im sure it wont be long until he is training plenty winners.

And all this when not exactly a golden era for Coolmore horses

shamdrog63

theemigrant wrote: »

he shared the apprentice title with gay carroll & ben curtis. i dont think either of them would win what he won.

Think this comment is a tad harsh.If you followed Ben Curtis last year and had a euro on all his mounts during the regular season you,d have made a nice profit, which isn,t easy when you are toiling in the north of England.I think he,s a jockey that could still rise to the top if he gets the right oportunities.

NaiveMelodies

mdwexford wrote: »

Why don't you read my posts instead of posting nonsense.

He would not have had the opportunities if he wasn't Aidans son.
Lets be realistic, he wasn't a good enough jockey for the Ballydoyle job. That's the number 1 job in racing, he would never have been near it if he wasn't who he was.

Why would I begrudge him anything. I certainly wouldn't have turned it down in his position. Obviously he worked hard and did it to the best of abilities. Good for him.

I read your pathetic post.

Guessing your one of those AP O'Brien fav backers who blamed nepotism when things didn't go your way.

mdwexford

NaiveMelodies wrote: »

I read your pathetic post.

Guessing your one of those AP O'Brien fav backers who blamed nepotism when things didn't go your way.

Then you must be stupid.

I rarely back horses and even more rarely back a flat horse.
People can have opinions and views without money influencing them.

Gamebred

knighted wrote: »

Ruby walsh and katie ,all the carburys , geratys , even charlie swan had trainers for fathers .
all the mullins , byran cooper jane mangan , the mcnamaras the list goes on
Its traditionally been a family affair , thats how the industry works
I remember spencer got the ballydoyle number 1 job because he was magniers godson

Best of luck to joey

Spencer is not magniers godson thats a racing myth.

mickmackmcgoo

Joseph was a fine jockey . Made mistakes like they all have done. Australia in the champion stakes for one. But St Nicholas Abbey in the breeders cup he was fantastic and almost won the breeders cup classic the following year, beaten a whisker on Declaration of War

knighted

Gamebred wrote: »

Spencer is not magniers godson thats a racing myth.

http://hripressoffice.ie/2014/08/21/spencer-announces-shock-retirement/

Hri seem to think he is , google it

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/2355022/Spencer-will-still-ride-for-Magnier.html

Gamebred

''Spencer was signed as replacement to Mick Kinane - and not because he is John Magnier's godson. Because he isn't. "I've no idea where that came from," he says, explaining that Magnier's real godson, denied public recognition for so long, is Fozzy Stack. Not being Magnier's godson, however, did not prevent Spencer from landing the Ballydoyle job, a job he now feels he should not have taken back then. "Because I won a Classic when I was 17 I was placed on this pedestal of expectation,"


from an interview with lee mottershead.

Kevhog1988

shamdrog63 wrote: »

Think this comment is a tad harsh.If you followed Ben Curtis last year and had a euro on all his mounts during the regular season you,d have made a nice profit, which isn,t easy when you are toiling in the north of England.I think he,s a jockey that could still rise to the top if he gets the right oportunities.

hes a decent jockey but would you leg him up on your derby favourite?? He has done well in england and i commend him for making the switch but i really dont think he is top class.