Our columnist on why Saturday's Coral-Eclipse may prove the 'apple has rolled a little bit closer to the tree'.
"My daddy left home when I was three
Didn't leave much to my mom and me
Except this old guitar and an empty bottle of boozie.
Now I don't blame him 'cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that my daddy ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me Susie.”
As we celebrate, a little wearily perhaps, the repetitive big race successes of Aidan O'Brien, and indeed his clever son Joseph whose horses shone so brightly at Royal Ascot, it should not be forgotten that the family boasts another racehorse trainer of considerable achievement.
Young Donnacha O'Brien shouldn't need much introduction; he was champion apprentice and a two-time champion jockey in Ireland and, in his first season as a trainer in 2020, struck gold with a filly called Fancy Blue who won both the Prix De Diane and Nassau Stakes.
Then, a few years later, he sent out Porta Fortuna to run up a string of big race successes at two and three including at Royal Ascot (the Albany and Coronation Stakes), the Falmouth and the Matron.
So, for all the acclaim directed towards his father and older brother, Donnacha, who will be just 29 next month, has more than proved that he can train good horses (from much smaller numbers) and that, as the Irish often say, 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.'
As such, it was interesting to hear how highly he rated A Boy Named Susie before the colt ran in last month's French Derby, the Prix Du Jockey Club.
Named presumably with allusions to the Johnny Cash hit record ‘A Boy Named Sue’ (his dam is called Soho Susie), he is a son of Starspangledbanner who is enjoying a fantastic year as the sire of Aidan O'Brien stable stars Gstaad and Precise.
A Boy Named Susie has won just one race - on his debut at Killarney - from seven starts but progressed well last year, and later chased home Pierre Bonnard in the Group One Criterium De Saint-Cloud.
On his reappearance in the Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown, he was beaten only a length in third place behind the subsequent Derby winner Christmas Day which suggested the potential was there for further improvement.
I was commentating on the 'Jockey Club' for France-Galop (not in French) and, while Constitution River, Hawk Mountain and Montreal contributed to a tactical masterclass for Donnacha's daddy, it was clear that A Boy Named Susie would have finished closer with a clear run.
Drawn wide in stall 13, jockey Maxime Guyon was buying tickets for the museum in the early stages but ended up on the rail in the home straight after a troubled passage on France's historic racecourse which is notorious for hard luck stories.
Donnacha watched the race with his father's entourage down by the rail and, while Aidan was filmed being showered with congratulations afterwards, you could see the hurt in his eyes despite putting on a brave smile. He looked like he was seething inside.
On Saturday, A Boy Named Susie - with Oisin Murphy aboard this time - gets his chance to show what he can do in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.
He was beaten just two-and-three-quarter lengths at Chantilly and the way he stayed on up the hill from a highly unpromising position suggests that Sandown's stiff finish will also suit him.
Given the form of Aidan O'Brien's horses at the highest level this season during which he has sent out eight Classic winners, it might seem like insanity to oppose his chosen representative.
He has won this race nine times (a record) including four of the last five renewals. And the names of some of those winners are illustrious: Giants Causeway, Hawk Wing, So You Think, St Mark's Basilica, City Of Troy.
Whether he runs Constitution River or Hawk Mountain (or, unlikely, Causeway), these are three year-olds who, like their predecessors in the yard, are more than good enough to win any average renewal of Sandown's summer highlight.
So it's going to be tough for the colt with a girl's name - and "life ain't easy for a boy named Sue" - but it won't be the biggest surprise on Saturday if that apple has rolled a little bit closer to the tree.
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