Author:Jacqueline O'Brien,Ivor Herbert
Vincent O'Brien is a horse-racing legend. Recently voted horse racing's 'greatest of all time', ahead of familiar names like Lester Piggott, the Queen Mother and Sheikh Mohammed, O'Brien won every race that matters in Britain and Ireland over his fifty-year career and is without doubt the best and most versatile racehorse trainer the sport has ever known.
O'Brien is the only man to have trained three consecutive Grand National winners. He won three consecutive Gold Cups and three consecutive Champion Hurdles. He has had extraordinary success in flat racing too - six Derby winners, three winners of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, three King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winners and twenty-five races at Royal Ascot. He trained some of the best-known racehorses in the history of the sport - including Nijinsky, winner of the Triple Crown in 1970.
His life has been a fascinating one. From humble beginnings in County Cork, he chose to train racehorses as his career - much to the benefit of the sport - and went on to create the legendary Ballydoyle Stables. Here his extraordinary story is told by his wife, Jacqueline, and distinguished racing writer Ivor Herbert. Lavishly illustrated with her personal and public photographs that span his amazing life, this book is a must for anyone with an interest in horses or racing.
' ... A major contender for the best racing book I have read.
—— Daily TelegraphThe length and variety of Vincent O'Brien's achievements testify to his status as the master horseman of his age, and this definitive work is the biography that he deserves.
—— Racing PostThe racing book of the year
—— Racing PostMagnificent
—— Irish IndependentEngagingly quirky
—— Publishing NewsFull of incident, detail and gossip
—— Daily TelegraphAstounding
—— The ObserverTrower has the perfect pitch for a sentence that illuminates an entire culture
—— Financial TimesHis dedication to finding a spiritual dimension to a lost art is hard to fault
—— WanderlustNotable for its honesty. The Liverpool defender's published opinion that he is happier retired from international football prompted a media frenzy
—— Martin Pengelly , GuardianOne of the few current footballers worth an autobiography
—— Jonathan Ruppin , BooksellerAmid the basketful of bland post-World Cup books, McGrath's life story stands out a mile... Fascinating reading.
—— Evening StandardThe Republic of Ireland's most popular sportsman, still adored by fans of Manchester United and Villa.
—— BBC SportAn all-too honest account of a playing career that just got better and better, despite threatening to go off the rails.
—— Sunday MercuryAn extraordinary book.
—— Irish IndependentHarrowing and brutally honest...a gripping story.
—— Derby Evening TelegraphBrutally honest.
—— The Irish PostLess a football autobiography, more repentant confessional.
—— Kevin Hughes , FreeSportstunning
—— FourFourTwo