SON OF A GUN’S CUP HISTORY
JOSEPH O’Brien became the youngest trainer to a Melbourne Cup, defeating his famous father when Rekindling led home an Irish trifecta in the great race at Flemington yesterday.
Rekindling ran down the Aidan O’Brien-trained Johannes Vermeer to win the $6.2 million race with Max Dynamite third.
“I rang Dad, he was over the moon,’’ said 24-year-old, baby-faced Joseph O’Brien.
“He was as delighted as I would have been if his horse had won.’’
Rekindling and Johannes Vermeer are both raced by a giant of Melbourne Cup history, owner Lloyd Williams, who celebrated a record sixth Cup triumph.
Williams then put some perspective into 24-year-old baby-faced Joseph O’Brien’s feat of training a Melbourne Cup winner with his first run.
“It is extraordinary – close to being able to walk on water,’’ Williams said of the youthful O’Brien.
“He has a pedigree better than Galileo, he is the next Aidan O’Brien.
“I won’t be here long enough, unfortunately, I’m in the last quarter (of my life), in fact they have me on the interchange bench but you are going to see a career kicked off here seriously with the Melbourne Cup.
“We are going to see this young man doing all sorts of things, he will emulate his father, maybe more. His father has won 308 Group 1, something pretty minor, Joseph could win that and more.’’
Champion Sydney jockey Corey Brown produced a brilliant Melbourne Cup-winning ride to bring Rekindling ($15) with a late surge to run down Johannes Vermeer to win by a long neck with Max Dynamite more than two lengths away third.
O’Brien was born the year the Melbourne Cup was first run by an international raider, Irish stayer Vintage Crop, in 1993, and it was always his destiny to become a trainer.
“I always wanted to train horses, even when I was riding them,’’ O’Brien said.
“I had intended riding 20 winners and then hand in my license and ride as an amateur – but I was a bit more successful than I expected.’’
O’Brien actually rode 30 Group 1 winners including two English Derbies for his father on Camelot (2012) and Australia (2014). He eventually retired from riding in May, 2016, and took out a trainer’s licence.
He trained his first Group 1 winner in the Moyglare Stakes last year.