THE international racing achievements of the Magnier family and Aidan O’Brien were recognised at a special ceremony in Dublin this week.

This was only the seventh time that Longines and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities have presented their Award of Merit and the two latest recipients join an exclusive group which consists of Jim Bolger, Yutake Take, Alec Head, Seth Hancock, the Romanet family and South America’s Marcel Zarour Atanacio.

Described as “the driving forces behind Coolmore and Ballydoyle”, the Magniers and O’Brien were recognised for their lifetime dedication to the sport “in a country where the horse is king and where the horseracing industry has such an important impact on its economy, culture and history.”

Louis Romanet, IFHA chairman, said: “The Magnier family and Aidan O’Brien have built a stunningly powerful partnership on a truly global scale. The success of the Coolmore and Ballydoyle team is so ubiquitous in both Ireland and abroad that it would be impossible to list all of their accomplishments here today.”

Coomore Stud came together when John Magnier joined forces with Ballydoyle trainer Vincent O’Brien and businessman Robert Sangster in the 1970s.

Magnier is married to Vincent O’Brien’s daughter Susan, and he acquired both Ballydoyle and Coolmore after O’Brien’s retirement and Sangster’s death.

It was Magnier who recruited Aidan O’Brien to train at Ballydoyle in 1996. In the past 20 years O’Brien has trained over 250 Group 1 winners on the flat, mainly for the Coolmore partners. Last year he trained a world record 28 Group/Grade 1 winners.

Accepting the award, M.V. Magnier said: “This is a huge honour for our family. The success boils down to the people who work for us. Aidan and his family are 200% dedicated to the horses and the staff.” He also acknowledged the vital role played by the stallion Galileo in the Coolmore story.

Reflecting on his career to-date, Aidan O’Brien recalled how he began working for Jim Bolger and then moved to Owning in Co Kilkenny where he and wife Annemarie quickly established themselves as leading National Hunt trainers before moving to Ballydoyle.

“All our children have been raised in Ballydoyle and they have been a massive help to us,” he said. He described John Magnier as “the most incredible person, there will never be another like him” and he expressed his gratitude to all the staff at Coolmore and Ballydoyle for the role they have played in the ongoing success.

The audience were treated to video tributes to both Magnier and O’Brien recorded by Jim Bolger, Ryan Moore, Michael Kinane and Mike Dillon.