Family day with a difference for O'Brien clan at the Curragh

FAMILY days. Always hated them. Whether it was visiting long-lost relations who never had any nice biscuits, or going to the park because my sister would refuse to go watch a football match, or being bored stiff in a boozer with my parents plámásing (Irish slang for buttering up!) me with peanuts, getting home was always the highlight.

But if your second name is O'Brien and you live in Ballydoyle, family days are different. Take their trip to the Curragh, for instance. Dad has four runners in the Darley Irish Oaks, including odds-on favourite Even Song. Mam's colours will be carried by Way To My Heart in the same race, trained by her eldest son and ridden by her youngest daughter. Her youngest son rides Somehow, also trained by Dad, and, not to be left out of all the fun, the eldest daughter gets the leg up on Udogo in the Ladies Derby.

The O'Brien family are not going to the Curragh to be entertained, they are the entertainment.