THETATTERSALLS1000GUINEAS BESTJOCKEYS&TRAINERS

When looking back through the roll of honour, one name stands out more than any other, Aidan O’Brien. The master of Ballydoyle has saddled no fewer than 10 winners of the 1000 Guineas, including four of the last five. He began training in 1996 and by 1997 had already trained his first 1000 Guineas winner, Classic Park. The 2001, 2003 and 2008 renewals all went the way of the Tipperary trainer and since 2010 he’s taken home the prize money six times. Imagine went onto complete the Epsom Oaks double and the top trainer returns this year with Dower House, Meditate and the supplemented Jackie Oh.

The name O’Brien hasn’t always been a regular on the honours list and despite the legendary Vincent O’Brien winning the race three times between 1966 and 1979, there has been a whole host of others to claim the prize. Father and son Kevin and Paddy Prendergast won the race six times between them, while Dermot Weld has won the race four times. The Irish tends to dominate on home soil but British trainers have come over to take the prize back across the Irish Sea. Mick Channon, Sir Michael Stoute, Luca Cumani, Mark Johnston and more recently Adrian Keatley have all claimed the prize.

While trainers are masters of getting their horses to the track, their jurisdiction ends once they go into the stalls and it is down to the jockeys to get them home.

With Aidan O’Brien having such a hold of the race, it’s no surprise to see Ryan Moore and Seamie Heffernan with eight wins between them. Seamie became the first jockey since Morny Wing to win the race in back-to back years when winning on Empress Josephine.

The leading jockey in the race is Morny Wing, who won the race seven times in the early to mid-1900’s. Seamie Heffernan is close on his heels but still has a way to go if he wants to become the top jockey. The late Pat Smullen was a master in the saddle and has two wins to his name in more recent years, while the famed Lester Piggott has two.

Former Ballydoyle rider Jamie Spencer has won the race three times but interestingly enough, none of them came for Aidan O’Brien. Walter Swinburn won the race four times in a 20-year timeframe, with his final success happening on the Geoff Wragg trained Marling in 1992.