‘The Wizard of Ballydoyle’
Oct 30, 2013 16:13:26 GMT -5
Post by Jon on Oct 30, 2013 16:13:26 GMT -5
‘The Wizard of Ballydoyle’
By Ed DeRosa
Paulick Report
Back in my cub reporter days with the once-bankrupt-now-resurrected Thoroughbred Times, I landed a plum assignment in just my second year of Breeders’ Cup coverage: a one-on-one interview (by phone) with “the Wizard of Ballydoyle,” trainer Aidan O’Brien.
I’ll stop short of saying I had spoken to O’Brien before, but I had been around him when he spoke, so I knew he is soft spoken and has (to my ears) a thick Irish accent. I don’t usually tape interviews, but I didn’t trust my ear over the phone with him, so I actually recorded our conversation.
We went over the usual suspects: High Chaparral returning to defend his Breeders’ Cup Turf win, his one-two punch in the Filly & Mare Turf with L’Ancresse and Yesterday, and his bid for Classic glory with Hold That Tiger (he’s still looking for that elusive Classic win, as is Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher, to name a few).
Then we got to the 2-year-olds, and O’Brien got noticeably excited about a colt I thought he called Oldger’s Run. His speech sped up. This colt was every bit as good as (2001 Juvenile winner) Johannesburg, he said, and should like the dirt just as much as that eventual champion.
Oldger’s Run wasn’t a name I had heard before, so his excitement was making me excited because I thought I had a scoop brewing. Back in those days at Thoroughbreds Times we had a tradition that if you got wind of some breaking news you’d yell out, “Put on a pot of coffee because I got a scoop brewin’!”
OK, that really didn’t happen, and I regret it to this day, but we did drink a lot of coffee.
Anyway, after my conversation with O’Brien, I immediately gathered my colleagues to share my excitement. Who is this Oldger’s Run, we wondered. Nothing showed up in racing databases, including RacingPost, Equineline, or Brisnet. Maybe I misheard and it’s Older’s Run? Old Jer’s Rum? Older Son?
Finally someone cracked the case and determined it must have been Old Deuteronomy, who ended up not even coming that year, though he did race in the United States from 2004 for John T.L. Jones.
All that is to say, I think my life would come full circle if a horse named for an Italian painter (Giovanni Boldini) and bred in West Virginia won for an Irish trainer. If it happens, I want Aidan O’Brien to say that Giovanni Boldini was bred in by God West Virginia.
West Virginia would deserve the shout out, too, as a win would catapult Giovanni Boldini (this horse needs to do a Moneigh, no?) to sixth all-time on the West Virginia-bred lifetime earnings list behind Russell Road, Soul of the Matter, Afternoon Deelites, Confucius Say, Julie B, and Down Town Allen. Ghostly Thunder would drop off the top ten and leave Speed Whiz, Lucy’s Bob Boy, and Silver Heart.
So You Think and Aidan O'Brien
By Ed DeRosa
Paulick Report
Back in my cub reporter days with the once-bankrupt-now-resurrected Thoroughbred Times, I landed a plum assignment in just my second year of Breeders’ Cup coverage: a one-on-one interview (by phone) with “the Wizard of Ballydoyle,” trainer Aidan O’Brien.
I’ll stop short of saying I had spoken to O’Brien before, but I had been around him when he spoke, so I knew he is soft spoken and has (to my ears) a thick Irish accent. I don’t usually tape interviews, but I didn’t trust my ear over the phone with him, so I actually recorded our conversation.
We went over the usual suspects: High Chaparral returning to defend his Breeders’ Cup Turf win, his one-two punch in the Filly & Mare Turf with L’Ancresse and Yesterday, and his bid for Classic glory with Hold That Tiger (he’s still looking for that elusive Classic win, as is Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher, to name a few).
Then we got to the 2-year-olds, and O’Brien got noticeably excited about a colt I thought he called Oldger’s Run. His speech sped up. This colt was every bit as good as (2001 Juvenile winner) Johannesburg, he said, and should like the dirt just as much as that eventual champion.
Oldger’s Run wasn’t a name I had heard before, so his excitement was making me excited because I thought I had a scoop brewing. Back in those days at Thoroughbreds Times we had a tradition that if you got wind of some breaking news you’d yell out, “Put on a pot of coffee because I got a scoop brewin’!”
OK, that really didn’t happen, and I regret it to this day, but we did drink a lot of coffee.
Anyway, after my conversation with O’Brien, I immediately gathered my colleagues to share my excitement. Who is this Oldger’s Run, we wondered. Nothing showed up in racing databases, including RacingPost, Equineline, or Brisnet. Maybe I misheard and it’s Older’s Run? Old Jer’s Rum? Older Son?
Finally someone cracked the case and determined it must have been Old Deuteronomy, who ended up not even coming that year, though he did race in the United States from 2004 for John T.L. Jones.
All that is to say, I think my life would come full circle if a horse named for an Italian painter (Giovanni Boldini) and bred in West Virginia won for an Irish trainer. If it happens, I want Aidan O’Brien to say that Giovanni Boldini was bred in by God West Virginia.
West Virginia would deserve the shout out, too, as a win would catapult Giovanni Boldini (this horse needs to do a Moneigh, no?) to sixth all-time on the West Virginia-bred lifetime earnings list behind Russell Road, Soul of the Matter, Afternoon Deelites, Confucius Say, Julie B, and Down Town Allen. Ghostly Thunder would drop off the top ten and leave Speed Whiz, Lucy’s Bob Boy, and Silver Heart.
So You Think and Aidan O'Brien
