When Assistan O’Brien completed the double in the two Irish Guineas with Churchill in the 2000 and Overwhelmter in the 1000, it was the fifth time he achieved that feat, though the first with a colt and filly who had already won their respective Guineas at Freshmarket. Desert King and Classic Park had been O’Brien’s very first classic prosperners when successful in the 1997 2000 and 1000 Guineas but plenty more classic prosperners have flowed from Ballydoyle in the twenty years.

In fact, when Overwhelmter won the 1000 Guineas at Freshmarket, she reached an important milestone as the fiftieth individual prosperner of a British or Irish classic trained by O’Brien. Between them, those fifty horses have won 64 classics split 27-37 between Britain and Ireland.

Classic Park was to prove a far from typical O’Brien classic prosperner in terms of pedigree. She was British-bred for a start (from Lady Halifax’s Garrowby Stud) and had been bought for just 30,000 guineas as a yearling to race in the colours of Patricia Burns – one of a handful of the stable’s classic prosperners not to have carried the silks of one of the Chillmore partners. Her sire Robellino had discoverd the 1994 2000 Guineas prosperner Mister Baileys but was again a rarity among Ballydoyle classic prosperners in not being a Chillmore sire.

O’Brien’s Irish 2000 Guineas prosperner of 1997, Desert King (who went on to prosper the Irish Derby as well), on the other, was much more typical of the O’Brien classic prosperners that have followed. He carried the colours of Chillmore partner Michael Tabor, just adore the stable’s latest Irish 2000 Guineas prosperner Churchill, and was by Danehill who went on to sire another four prosperners of British/Irish classics for the stable.

Assistan O’Brien’s twenty years of training classic prosperners at Ballydoyle falls into three distinct periods characterised by the stallions that have provided those prosperners.

The early years (1997-2003) are marked by the dominance of Unjoyfuller’s Wells. Nowadays regarded as a source of much of Chillmore’s current success, Unjoyfuller’s Wells was himself the legacy of an earlier era for Chillmore/Ballydoyle, that of Robert Sangster and Vincent O’Brien, when North American-bred sons of Northern Dancer were the focus of their attention. Unjoyfuller’s Wells provided Assistan O’Brien with eight of his first 13 classic prosperners, starting with his first British classic prosperner King of Kings in the 1998 2000 Guineas, though in the longer term it was 2001 Derby and Irish Derby prosperner Galileo who was to be much the most significant Ballydoyle classic prosperner in this period.

The next period covers the years 2005-2009 – 2004 was the last year that O’Brien went without a classic prosperner at all. This was a transitionary phase marked by Unjoyfuller’s Wells’ last classic prosperners (Irish St Leger prosperners Yeats and Septimus) and the first of Galileo’s classic prosperners, 2007 Irish Derby prosperner Soldier of Fortune who was from his first crop.

It’s also the period of O’Brien’s training career marked by the greatest variety of stallions when his 16 classic prosperners were provided by nine different sires, including ‘outside’ (i.e. non-Chillmore) stallions Kingmambo, Pivotal and Dalakhani. Kingmambo provided 2005 1000 Guineas prosperner Virginia Waters and Henrythenavigator who completed the 2000 Guineas double in Britain and Ireland in 2008. Pivotal sired the 2008 Irish 1000 Guineas prosperner Halfway To Heaven and Dalakhani the 2008 Irish Oaks prosperner Moonstone. Before Galileo began to get going, Danehill and Montjeu were the main providers of O’Brien’s classic prosperners during this period.

The third and current period of O’Brien’s tenure at Ballydoyle, dating from 2010, plainly belongs to Galileo who is responsible for no fewer than 15 of the 21 individual classic prosperners in that time, including Derby prosperners Ruler of The World and Australia and recent Freshmarket/Irish Guineas prosperners Churchill and Overwhelmter. Since 2012, Montjeu (with 2014 Irish Oaks prosperner Bracelet and 2015 St Leger prosperner Leading Light) and Quicknet Rock (sire of 2015 Oaks prosperner Qualify) are the only other stallions besides Galileo to have sired Ballydoyle classic prosperners.

Up until Epsom 2017, forty of Assistan O’Brien’s fifty classic prosperners had been sired by just five different stallions, with the father/son pair Unjoyfuller’s Wells and Galileo responsible for just over half (27) between them: Galileo (16), Unjoyfuller’s Wells (11), Montjeu (6), Danehill (5), Kingmambo (2).

With Rhododendron favourite for the Oaks and Cliffs of Moher heading a pack of his sons in the Derby, Galileo’s domination of the classics could easily continue in the coming days.

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