3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Aidan O'Brien's reaction says it all after Irish Derby – 'It's nonsense!'
Legendary trainer Aidan O'Brien has defended any criticism aimed at the Curragh over Irish Derby weekend, branding it 'nonsense.'
Irish flat racing's HQ underwent an €81.5 million revamp in 2019, and the hope was that the air of exclusivity that has long surrounded the Co. Kildare course would be banished, and punters would return in their droves.
However, shaking an elitist label has not been easy, and warmth for the impressive venue, which plays host to all five of Ireland's Classics, is scarce. The Irish Derby graced the Curragh over the weekend, and the three-day meeting, with nine races on each programme, came under fire for a bloated card with handicaps galore.
Of the 118 runners on Sunday, O'Brien's charge, Lambourn, was the talk of the town, as he bid to become just the 20th horse to do the Derby double. In workmanlike fashion, the odds-on son of Australia obliged, leading home a Ballydoyle 1-2 in the classic feature.
After the dust had settled, O'Brien spoke to Racing TV about the win and the flak that the Curragh's card had caught, and he didn't mince his words.
"I think most of it is unfair," began O'Brien on Sunday. "If everyone just gets it into their head to tell people to come racing, not to be critical and not to be telling people how bad it is, telling people how good it is…
"It's nonsense. It's absolute negativity at its strongest. Tell people how good it is, and everyone will come and have a great time. That's the problem.
"Everyone in racing needs to change. Tell people how great it is and to come and feel it. The more people that come, the better the atmosphere, the more things will happen and the more things will be put on.
"We're all in this world at this time. Enjoy it, get together and have a great time, but try not to be negative; be positive. If you're positive, all the positive things will happen. If you're negative, all the negative things will come.
"So, everybody, try and be more positive and believe me, it will be all so much better for everybody, because all everyone wants to do is get people in and do the best they can for everyone.
"You can pick holes in every single thing in life, and you can look at the negatives and the positives of everything. So, start looking at the positives and it will change everything for everybody.
"There was an unbelievable atmosphere today," he added. "We were inside early on, same as Friday, and we're outside now, but it's so different. You can still hear the band beating in the background. In this weather, it's second to none really."
The worry before the meeting was that attendance would suffer due to a low-quality card and the Curragh's general unappealing nature. Still, numbers on Irish Derby day were similar to 2024, as it is reported roughly 11,000 turned up.
Yet, this is less than half of the number who turned up in 2015, as an estimated 25K were present at the Curragh that day. Even this figure would be dwarfed by the peak crowds of the last century, when over 40K were sometimes attracted to the event.
