NEWS
O'Brien sweeps Irish and British awards
Posted: Monday, December 10, 2001
Whether the voters are Irish or British, they all admire record-breaking Coolmore trainer Aidan O'Brien, who received awards from two separate groups of racing journalists on Monday.
A panel of Irish racing journalists and broadcasters voted O'Brien the Goffs "racing personality of the year," and Goffs Managing Director Matt Mitchell presented the award to him at a luncheon at Punchestown. Racecourse. O'Brien set a world record this year by sending out 23 Grade/Group 1 stakes winners, breaking the previous mark held jointly by D. Wayne Lukas and Vincent O'Brien.
Meanwhile, the 35th annual Derby Awards were presented to the elite of British racing at London's Royal Lancaster Hotel by the Horserace Writers and Photographers Association, and all the top racing prizes in the flat category went to the connections of dual classic winner Galileo (Ire). O'Brien, who trained the three-year-old son of Sadler's Wells, won the award for top flat trainer. He was joined in the award winner's circle by Galileo's regular rider, Michael Kinane, who took the jockey prize. Completing the trifecta were Galileo's owners, Susan Magnier and Michael Tabor, who grabbed the owners' prize.
Now retired to stud at Coolmore's Irish base, Galileo won six of eight starts and earned $2,245,373. His victories included the Epsom Derby (Eng-G1), Irish Derby (Ire-G1), and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes (Eng-G1).
In other Derby Award categories, Tony McCoy earned top steeplechase jockey honors and Martin Pipe was acknowledged as the steeplechase trainer of the year. The George Ennor Trophy for lifetime achievement in racing was awarded posthumously to Racing Post founding editor Graham Rock, who died last month of cancer at age 56. The journalist of the year was Alan Lee of The Times of London, and the photographer of the year title went to Anne Grossick.
