Donnacha's growing influence set to tighten O'Brien family's grip

The victory of Fancy Blue in the Staffordstown Stud Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday provides a strong hint of an imminent addition to the ranks of the training profession.

Aidan O'Brien's unprompted deflection of credit for the filly's success in the direction of his son Donnacha confirms the jockey's Longfield Stud operation is becoming a force with which to be reckoned.

When the Ballydoyle trainer said after the race that his son knew more about the filly than he did, it was a typically admirable example of his generosity and reluctance to hog the glory. Less positively, it is beginning to look like a carbon copy of the awkward transitional phase that occurred at the start of Joseph O'Brien's training career.