Is Aidan O'Brien a dreamer or a spoofer? Johnny Murtagh's amazing tale provides us with the emphatic answer

Johnny Murtagh is one of sport's best seanchaís. For those of you unfamiliar with the word, it's an old Irish one to describe a traditional storyteller. Historically, the seanchaí wasn't just an entertainer, but a revered custodian of Irish culture, genealogy, mythology and history. They kept the country's oral traditions alive by travelling between villages and letting the communities listen to their stories by the fire. 

You could listen to Murtagh all night and still want more in the morning. Such was the case seeing him interviewed by Racing TV's Steve Mellish and Rishi Persad recently, especially when discussing Sea The Stars and the way Ballydoyle threw the kitchen sink at him in 2009, through the likes of Rip Van Winkle, Mastercraftsman and Fame And Glory. His comments provided rare and unprecedented access into the mind of Aidan O'Brien. 

"I still believe the International was our day," he said, explaining that, with Sea The Stars against three from Ballydoyle, he planned to have Mastercraftsman sat last as the two outsiders set the pace. Then, just as Mick Kinane might have thought he had the great champion settled, he would “get up behind him and jam him against the other two” to make him keen.