Aidan O’Brien is arguably the greatest flat trainer of all-time and his record at Royal Ascot is sensational, with 91 winners to his name.
The Ballydoyle maestro is a household name in the horse racing betting community and fans from all over the world will be backing his runners at this summer’s meeting.
At the time of writing, O’Brien has the favourite in several Group One races and he will almost certainly have a strong hand in many of the handicaps throughout the week.
Sports betting for every race will be available once declarations are in but for now, let’s look ahead to Aidan O’Brien’s best chances at Royal Ascot 2025.
Aidan O’Brien Best Chances At 2025 Royal Ascot
Aidan O’Brien has averaged 4.8 Royal Ascot victories each year over the past decade so he’ll hope for similar levels of success in 2025. Here, we look at his leading contenders for the meeting:
- Los Angeles – has leading claims in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes on Wednesday and he is right at the head of the market. His trainer has won the race on five occasions, most recently with Auguste Rodin 12 months ago.
- Illinois – with Kyprios now officially retired, Illinois will almost certainly be the choice of leading jockey Ryan Moore in the Ascot Gold Cup and he is a short priced favourite to prevail. O’Brien has won Thursday’s feature race a record nine times and number 10 could be on the cards.
- Exactly – Lake Victoria was widely regarded as the Ballydoyle banker before she was ruled out through injury but Exactly looks a competent deputy in the Coronation Stakes. She needs to reverse the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches form but she looks capable of doing so.
How Many Royal Ascot Winners Has Aidan O’Brien Trained?
Ahead of the 2025 meeting, Aidan O’Brien has trained 91 Royal Ascot winners and he will be hoping to edge closer to the magical century mark this summer.
He is the winning-most trainer in Royal Ascot history, clear of the now-retired Sir Michael Stoute and an incredible 25 ahead of any other active trainer.
When Was Aidan O’Brien’s First Royal Ascot Winner?
Aidan O’Brien recorded his first success at Royal Ascot back in 1997, with Harbour Master winning the Coventry Stakes – the first of nine victories in the race for the Ballydoyle master.
Sent off at 16/1 for the race, he wasn’t particularly fancied in the betting but stayed on strongly under jockey Christy Riche to beat market leader Desert Prince by almost two lengths.
Aidan O’Brien Royal Ascot Winners By Year:
- 1997 – 1 winner
- 1998 – 0 winners
- 1999 – 2 winners
- 2000 – 1 winner
- 2001 – 4 winners
- 2002 – 3 winners
- 2003 – 0 winners
- 2004 – 2 winners
- 2005 – 1 winner
- 2006 – 2 winners
- 2007 – 4 winners
- 2008 – 6 winners
- 2009 – 2 winners
- 2010 – 3 winners
- 2011 – 4 winners
- 2012 – 2 winners
- 2013 – 4 winners
- 2014 – 2 winners
- 2015 – 5 winners
- 2016 – 7 winners
- 2017 – 6 winners
- 2018 – 4 winners
- 2019 – 5 winners
- 2020 – 4 winners
- 2021 – 2 winners
- 2022 – 5 winners
- 2023 – 4 winners
- 2024 – 6 winners
