Of all horse trainers,

Aidan O'Brien's horse trainers 2008 turf campaign is one to savour.

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In 2008, the gifted Irish race horse trainer took his already stellar achievements to even greater heights. His stable stars, Duke Of Marmalade and Henrythenavigator contributed 9 of his 21 Group 1 victories to produce the best ever season in his 14 years at the Ballydoyle training yard.

The 39 year old trainer is reported to have said: " We're talking about two very special horses who, for me, were as good as, if not better than any we've had here at Ballydoyle in my time."

Yeats is another horse worthy of the highest accolades in winning the Ascot Gold Cup for the third time. He remains in training and could achieve an unprecedented fourth victory.

Completing a clean sweep of the Irish classics was a tremendous result for all concerned at Ballydoyle and capped when Septimus won the Irish St Leger at the Curragh. Soldier Of Fortune and Septimus will also be kept in training for 2009.

Aidan O'Brien came into the most coveted position of all horse trainers, that of working for John Magnier, the owner of Ballydoyle, through a series of fortuitous events. His first training job for Jim Bolger took him to Galway races where he met his future wife, Anne-Marie. It wasn't long before he was assisting her father with his successful jumps training yard at Owning. And finally a chance meeting with Paul Shanahan who worked for John Magnier, resulted in an invitation to move to Ballydoyle.

The arrival of Johnny Murtagh as stable jockey to replace the mercurial and ill-fated Kieren Fallon, has been a Godsend. His experience and natural ability as a horseman have endeared him to O'Brien who feels his contribution to the success of the yard cannot be overstated.

The furore caused by the team tactics employed in the running of the Judddmonte International at Newmarket resulted in a fine from the British Horseracing Association for trainer and jockey.

A contrite O'Brien says: "although we felt we had done nothing wrong in the race, we understand the rule now and never again will one of our horses move out of the way for another horse of ours."

This row followed him in his quest to win the Melbourne Cup at Flemington, Australia. He was savaged by the Australian press for his tactics when sending Septimus, Alessandro Volta and Honolulu to the front in an attempt to burn off the opposition. A ploy that backfired badly as none of his runners made the frame.

It must rankle that the Melbourne Cup is a race that has evaded him in three attempts and a bout of Pommy bashing is unlikely to deter him from trying again.

The only other disappointment of the year came in the Breeders Cup Classic, Santa Anita, U.S.A. where Henrythenavigator was runner up to John Gosden's Raven's Pass and in which Duke Of Marmalade finished ninth.

Looking ahead to 2009, his classic aspirations are bolstered by several horses that he believes will improve markedly on their 2008 form. Rip Van Winkle failed to achieve his potential due to ill timed preparations and unsuitably soft ground but Aidan O'Brien thinks: "there could be massive improvement in him and we will start him off at a mile next year, although he should have no problem going a bit further."

Mastercraftsman will benefit from a good rest over the winter as O'Brien feels the hard race he had, to win the National Stakes on very testing ground, probably took its toll and brought an unbeaten run to an end in the Jean-Luc Lagadere.

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