Vincent O'Brien's passing is a sad day for racing as he is what I would describe as the most influential figure on global bloodstock.
He revolutionised the racing industry in Europe, had an understanding of racehorses that is unsurpassed before or since and is one of only two men The Racing Post describe as racing legends when they give out their annual birthday honours out.
He was voted the most significant figure in the sport in a poll of the top 100 figures ever in racing history.
His achievements are quite extraordinary. He won three consecutive Grand Nationals, three consecutive Champion Hurdles and three consecutive Gold Cups and then he turned his attentions to the Flat.
Very few trainers if any have dominated both codes, but he did and when he started to train Flat horses he was particularly acute at identifying the key bloodstock lines. He was the first man in Europe to identify Northern Dancer as the dominant stallion. He then went on to train countless Derby winners: Nijinsky, Golden Fleece, Roberto and so forth. He dominated Irish and to a lesser extent English racing for a period spanning 30 or 40 years.
He helped set up Coolmore with his son in law John Magnier and that is now the most significant global bloodstock empire.
It is rare to have someone who knows how best to commercially exploit the sport and the knowledge of the thoroughbred.
He was one of the first people behind the use of all-weather gallops to get his horses fit through the winter. If you go to Ballydoyle now, you see some of the innovations that were started by Vincent O’Brien. Before the Derby he famously would prepare horses round a gallop that would resemble the undulations of Tattenham Corner and Tattenham Hill to get them ready for the Derby in that sense.
He was one of the first men to fly horses between countries, he was an internationalist and the first truly global racehorse trainer who understood the importance of the trans-Atlantic bloodstock industry and he gave it huge momentum.