sport news ED CHAMBERLIN: Amazing Aiden O'Brien is the Pep Guardiola of the paddock - ... trends now
View
comments
How do you keep stating someone is a genius and make it interesting? This is the challenge Aidan O’Brien and Pep Guardiola are giving to sports broadcasters and writers every week.
O’Brien is to racing what Guardiola is to football — these men are revolutionaries in their fields, obsessive in the pursuit of perfection. Those closest to Guardiola say the maximum amount of time he can be distracted from his job is 32 minutes and O’Brien would be the same.
They are always thinking of new ways to outwit opponents. Guardiola wrapped Erik ten Hag up in knots in last week’s Manchester derby, O’Brien will have obsessed on a plan in California this week to maximise Auguste Rodin’s chance in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
Guardiola cannot do things alone, of course. There is a best-in-class scouting system around him to ensure City are at the forefront to buy the best players, with sporting director Txiki Begiristain responsible for getting the signings done.
The parallel for O’Brien at Coolmore is the Magnier family’s prowess in the sales ring, knowing the outstanding pedigrees and types of blue-blooded horses that will fit into a stable that leaves nothing behind with its attention to detail.
Aiden O'Brien has been known to obsess with perfection and is a revolutionary in his field
He is like the Pep Guardiola (pictured) of horse racing and writers and broadcasters run out of superlatives to describe them
Some people think it must be easy for O’Brien and Guardiola — how can they not be successful with no limits on
