O’Brien family dominance is kind of a competition problem for racing and kind of isn’t

Irish racing kind of has a competition problem and kind of doesn’t. It depends on whether you believe Aidan O’Brien as well as his sons Joseph and Donnacha represent some homogenous entity, which they obviously kind of do, but kind of don’t as well. What’s kind of certain, though, is that a singular level of sporting dynasty is unfolding in front of our eyes.

During 30 years at the Ballydoyle helm, O’Brien snr has redrafted the boundaries of flat racing success around the world. At home he has been champion trainer in Ireland for all of this century. No one else has ever got close. The power of the Coolmore operation and the material it supplies makes that all but impossible.