Horse racing is one of the oldest sports that are enjoyed in Ireland, with many enjoying racing, watching races, or even making a bet or two on the outcomes. As such, some of the best trainers in the sport come from Ireland right now. Here are some of the biggest trainers who have shaped the sport as it is right now.
Willie Mullins
When talking about the biggest horse trainers in Ireland, you have to talk about Willie Mullins. Before he started training himself, he worked for his father Paddy Mullins and Jim Bolger. Starting his training career in 1988, he very quickly found success.
Many consider him to be one of the best trainers at the Cheltenham Festival every year, with many of his horses going on to win the top prizes. He has seen success at the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Supreme Novices Hurdle, and the Champion Hurdle.
His success is still continuing now, with six Cheltenham Festival 2023 winners coming from his stables, as well as 12 Grade 1 races. While he is known for training horses for the National Hunt, he is also training winners in the Royal Ascot, too. That includes Vauban and Absurde who have taken home titles recently.
Gordon Elliott
Gordon Elliott is an exciting name in horse training, especially as he initially had no background in the sport. He managed to become a successful amateur jockey, and now has become one of the most exciting trainers in Ireland, and possibly the only one to really challenge Willie Mullins in recent years.
He starts off his career as a trainer on a high note, when he was the youngest trainer to win the Aintree Grand National with Silver Birch. This was just one year into his training career, and he has gone on to even bigger and better things overall.
In more recent wins, he has seen a lot of success with his two-time Grand National winner Tiger Roll. He has also trained winners Don Cassock, Samcro and Envoi Allen.
Henry de Bromhead
Henry de Bromhead took over his family’s stable in 2000, and has been seeing success with his horses ever since. Located in Knockeen, he has used his experience and talent to really create some of the best horses out there right now. That includes Minella Indo, Honeysuckle, Sizing Europe, Special Tiara, and Put The Kettle On. All these horses have managed to pick up titles at the Cheltenham Festival, making them some of the most formidable horses on the circuit.
Currently, stable jockey here is Rachel Blackmore, a jockey who is currently smashing records in her races. Together with Bromhead’s horses, they are sure to see much more success in the near future.
Aidan O’Brien
Hailing from Ballydoyle, Aidan O’Brien has one of the most impressive records when it comes to training winners. Superstar horses such as Galilieo, Camelot, Paddington, Savethelastdance, City of Troy, and more all come from his stable.
At time of writing, O’Brien has 39 Classic wins, 8 English Derbys, 14 Irish Derbys, and 10 2,000 Guineas. With such a formidable record when it comes to wins, you can be sure that if one of his horses is in a race, it is very likely to be one of the first across the finish line. If you check out bets available through sites like www.irishbettingsites.ie on any of his horses, you can see that the odds are most always often short. A bet placed on any of his horses, then, is often a safe bet.
In 2023, he was able to add 19 Group or Grade 1 wins to his list, continuing his track record of training winners. That included the Derby Double winner Auguste Rodin, who actually went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
Dermot Weld
Dermot Weld is one of the most accomplished horse trainers on this list. He was Ireland’s leading amateur rider on three different occasions before he started his training career, and he is also a qualified vet on top of his training work. He is also still training horses at the age of 73, and shows no signs of stopping yet.
Holds a record for the most winners trained in Ireland, when he got his 2,578 winner in August 2000. He has been adding that number ever since, racking up more wins with every race.
His very first Classic win was all the way back in 1981, And he is still getting victories today. In 2020, for example, he got a win in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
Notably, Weld was portrayed by Brendan Gleeson in The Cup, released in 2011. He still continues to be an icon in Irish horse training, and is still contributing to the country’s rich horse racing history.
Ger Lyons
Ger Lyons was initially a National Hunt jockey, spending four years racing until his career was cut short by a severe injury in 1989. He didn’t let this slow him down though, and instead he pivoted towards horse training.
It was quickly clear that this was a great move for him, as his first victory was at Navan in 1994, when his horse Maelalong became the victor of that race.
He continued to rack up the wins over the years, and by the end of 2018 he had 800 different winners come through his stables. In 2021, he then hit the 1,000 wins milestone.
Lyons is considered to be one of the most consistent trainers in Ireland right now, and he has frequently won the crown of Irish All Weather Champion Trainer. He is also considered to be battling it out with Aiden O’Brien to cement his place as a top Irish horse racing trainer right now. Even against such stiff competition though, he is still coming out on top.
These are just a handful of some of the best Irish horse racing trainers out there right now. You can see just how much dedication and hard work goes into creating some of the best forces on the tracks right now.