Aidan O’Brien
For the first time in many years, Aidan commenced the year without a recognised number one retained rider and most pundits were wondering what effect that would have on the stable. However, with no fewer than 20 Grade 1 winners worldwide, not having a retained rider obviously made very little difference as the yard enjoyed one of their best ever years. Aidan relied on Seamie Heffernan, Colm O’Donoghue and his own son, Joseph, to ride the majority of the horses in Ireland while Ryan Moore and Jamie Spencer also rode some big race winners for the stable. For the sixth consecutive year, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby went to Ballydoyle with Treasure Beach outpointing stable companions Seville and Memphis Tennessee while Roderic O’Connor took the Abu Dhabi Irish 2000 Guineas and Misty For Me landed the Etihad Airways Irish 1000 Guineas. Misty For Me also proved successful in the Stobart Pretty Polly Stakes while So You Think landed the Tattersalls Gold Cup and the Red Mills Irish Champion Stakes and there were also wins for Maybe in the Moyglare Stud Stakes and Power in the Goffs National Stakes. Overseas, there were even more big race successes with Cape Blanco winning three Grade 1 races in America while Fame And Glory took the Ascot Gold Cup and So You Think won the Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown. The juveniles were well up to standard with Power winning the Goffs National Stakes and Maybe winning her only five races including the Moyglare Stud Stakes while Camelot is already a warm favourite for the 2012 Epsom Derby after taking the Racing Post Trophy in impressive style. Having endured plenty of disappointments at the Breeders Cup in recent years, Aidan rounded off a terrific year when saddling an excellent big race double at Churchill Downs in early November with Wrote taking the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf and Coronation Cup winner St Nicholas Abbey probably giving the ‘Master Of Ballydoyle’ his most special of victories when taking the Breeders Cup Turf with son Joseph on board.
 

Joseph O’Brien
Having shared the Apprentice Title with Gary Carroll and Ben Curtis last year, Joseph was a clear cut winner this time around with 57 winners, a total that was good enough to see him finishing third in the Jockey’s Championship itself. However, that was only half the story for this multi-talented 18 year old who really had a very special year which culminated in him becoming the youngest ever rider to partner a winner at the Breeders Cup Meeting at Churchill Downs when St Nicholas Abbey landed the Breeders Cup Turf on the first Saturday in November. In May, Joseph rode his first Classic winner when making all the running to win the Abu Dhabi Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh while he also steered the hugely talented Maybe to victory in the Silver Flash Stakes at Leopardstown, the Debutante Stakes at the Curragh and the Group One Moyglare Stakes over the same course. Another highlight for young O’Brien came when he guided the classy Camelot to a decisive victory in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster in October while Nephrite looked another with Classic potential for next year when taking the Killavullan Stakes at Leopardstown in good style. Joseph will always have to battle to keep his weight in check but if he can do so, he has the ability to be a top class rider over the coming years as his coolness in a race and his fine racing brain are just two of his many talents.

Colm O’Donoghue
A fine year for Colm with his victory aboard Treasure Beach in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh in late June a fitting reward for this very likeable young man who has been an integral part of the Aidan O’Brien stable for many years. Colm also went very close on the same horse in the Epsom Derby three weeks earlier failing by just a head to hold off the flying late challenge of Pour Moi but other big winners in Ireland came on Alexander Pope in the Gallinule Stakes and on Sing Softly in the Loughbrown Stakes. He also enjoyed notable success on Daddy Long Legs in the Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket in late September while in America he guided Treasure Beach to a hard fought success in the Secretariat Stakes in August and he was also the man in the saddle when the luckless Together gained an overdue Grade One success in the Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Keeneland in October.

Seamus Heffernan
Jockey Seamie Heffernan has been a crucial link in the impressive set-up at Ballydoyle for many years and this dual Irish Derby winning jockey enjoyed an immensely successful year in 2011. With no recognised first jockey in the stable, Seamie got plenty of opportunities to show his undoubted talent and, as usual, he let nobody down when given the chance. He was aboard the hugely impressive So You Think when he made a winning Irish debut in the Mooresbridge Stakes at the Curragh in early May and gained a very important win on the same horse two months later when the pair defeated last year’s Epsom Derby and Prix de l’Arc winner, Workforce, in a thrilling finish to the Coral Eclipse Stakes at Sandown. Heffernan also partnered the ultra smart Misty For Me to take the Etihad Airways Irish 1000 Guineas and the Stobart Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh in the space of five weeks while it was So You Think once again who he guided to a narrow success in the Red Mills Champion Stakes at Leopardstown in early September. He then produced Power with a perfectly timed challenge to take the Goffs National Stakes at the Curragh in mid-September having blamed himself for that horse’s narrow defeat in the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes six weeks earlier. A sixth top level success came courtesy of 25/1 outsider Crusade in the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket later that month before he brought David Livingston home a narrow winner of the Juddmonte Beresford Stakes in October to round off an unforgettable season for this very popular rider.