Interesting to see how he would do in a run of the mill yard with a small budget instead of vomit inducing sums..

Like pep taking over an average football team without a bottomless pit of confetti….

A young Cecil,Stoute,Dunlop,Hern and Walwyn with a few past top northern trainers would certainly produce the same….fact !   Ffs

FORMOFTHEACE, agree yes just look on the trainers back then, you can include, vincent  a young cumani, harwood, b hills even c brittain, the competition was awesome, now to be honest weve got gosden v obrien, with the occassional good horse in godolphin,   and all those great horses from dancing brave, el gran, shergar, user friendly, commanche run,salsabil,generous,nashwan were all in different stables,   these top horses now are mainly all coolmore,

Genius is a strong word banded like confetti ffs

Father forgive them.

Acey - I totally disagree with your views about Aidan...but there are many knowledgeable aficionados
whose opinions I believe are nonsense, so I guess you won't be losing much sleep over this post

I like Jim McGrath (Ch4) and respect his views but there have been many occasions when I have been
convinced he's talking absolute shít though I still appreciate them...because he's entitled to his
well-qualified views - each to their own as they say.


I don't know how many times I've seen a rag of Aidan's win a group one and I've safely predicted that
the form will NEVER be replicated - and I've been proven correct 95%+ of the time!
He plays bingo with so many and it's a case of having enough ammo, as something will invariably hit
the target, which is a scenario we've seen many times.

He's got a rap-sheet for not having a clue which 3yo is gonna win a big race - obviously Serpentine
was a total aberration but even worse was Homecoming Queen a decade ago who bewilderingly píssed up
in the Guineas by 10 lengths after racing 11 times as a juvenile and moderately at that!
That was an embarrassment to the sport.

For all his record-breaking exploits, I don't think Aidan can be considered greater than many top
trainers over the years who've proved time & again that they know how to handle & campaign a high
class horse.

He's definitely no better than Cecil, Vincent, Stoute, Gosden, Oxx, Weld, Bolger, Hern et al but
most certainly superior to another nice guy but over-rated trainer who's been spoiled rotten in having
a tremendously wealthy & enthusiastic patron...Saeed - it's impossible not to rattle up the big races
with the best ammunition - even 'Always Lying' used to get it right sometimes.
How Saeed campaigned the top class Sulamani was amateur to say the least!

I'd go as far to say that if a perceived average trainer (with experience of listed horses) took charge
of a few of his group class 'rejects' then they'd do just as well.

I remember joking with my mate BEFORE last year's Dante that Stoute has ONE dart with Desert Crown
(not that I thought he was a likely Derby winner, but I was intrigued by the flood of money in the
preceding week) and I said let's see how that fares...compared to Aidan's two dozen blue-bloods.
We know the rest - I know who I'd prefer to entrust my thoroughbred with if I had one.

I'm not putting the boot in on Aidan as he's without doubt a really good egg as a person but I do have a few
misgivings as he never tells you anything except that a horse is well and all the 'tremendous speed' jive.

He said yesterday that Auguste Rodin was by the best daughter of Galileo (Rhododendron) which is absolute
bollox as I'd rate Found & Minding much superior, but I suppose he never stops selling the brand does he?

And I'll never be able to let go of that July Cup plums he constantly churned out for a decade about his 10/12f
brigade every season before someone most likely 'had a word' with him as it was becoming an embarrassment.

Galileo...the one with the 6f speed apparently (not the Cheltenham winner) drops back to 10f and he's fairly
& squarely outpointed by Fantastic Light after having ráped that opponent a month or so earlier over 12f.
I'd like to hear an explanation for that as they were set fair for a duel up the straight, so there were no
excuses to my eye for the supposed speedster, even though the media were unanimously thought he was unlucky.

WK - agreed mate. I actually backed two of the last 3 in the betting
(King Of Steel & Adelaide River) 80/1 & 50/1 with 365 as they went
4 places - I did get a bit excited

I read some positive words from Varian (not known for his hyperbole)
a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was worth a few quid and as
we've seen...Aidan's 6th strings can often be worth a second glance.

I remember Lammtarra with great fondness.  I made a lot of money from his 3yo career.
One of the wacky stories of racing as his first trainer was shot dead in his stable .