Donnacha O'Brien Up and Running as Dundalk Trainer

Donnacha O'Brien, who twice landed the Irish jockeys' championship with 111 winners, recorded his first success as a trainer at Dundalk Feb. 21, 111 days on from his final winner in the saddle.

His breakthrough could not have come much easier thanks to Flower Garland, the second foal out of Beach of Falesa, who was one of O'Brien's first rides under rules at Killarney in August 2014. 

The winning 3-year-old and nine-race maiden Mythologic will fly the flag this winter for the 21-year-old, whose Longfield base in County Tipperary was once used by David Wachman. 

"It was nice to get the first one out of the way," O'Brien said. "She was very good and has thankfully come out of her race well. All seems to be going well at the moment. I'm lucky to be working with Coolmore. They're good in terms of not adding any pressure."

O'Brien's Dundalk winner is one of two entries he has made for next Friday at Lingfield, with the former rider not afraid to travel his horses in the hope of finding suitable races.

"We have a couple of entries at Lingfield, but we haven't made any plans and we'll see how the races shape up," he said. "It's an important part of the job to find the right races, and there isn't a huge amount of flat racing in Ireland at this time of year. There are plenty of races in the U.K., and Joseph (O'Brien) is taking up those options more, so it's something we'll look into here, too."

With the flat season fast approaching, O'Brien has plenty to look forward to, with 10 horses entered in the classics, including unbeaten listed winner Fancy Blue.

"She seems to have wintered well," he said. "We haven't done a huge amount with her, but thankfully everything is going smoothly.

"She has the option of going for a trial race, but there's a small chance she could go straight to Newmarket for the One Thousand Guineas (G1). We won't be rushing into any decisions."