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Nothing unique about success coming so young to Joseph and Donnacha
Alan Sweetman says Aidan O'Brien's sons are building on a youthful tradition
Donnacha (left) and Joseph (centre) with father Aidan: strategic decisions need to be made in the O'Brien familyCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com.photos)
From the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita, via Naas, to the Melbourne Cup at Flemington, these recent days have confirmed the primacy of the O'Brien family in Irish racing.
And in what could be a sign of things to come it was Joseph, with the victorious Iridessa and the defeated Master Of Reality, and Donnacha, with a second Irish jockeys' title, who secured the major headlines.
Their father's grip on the trainers' championship has long since defined the status quo. His 22nd title merely underlines how routine it has become.
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Alan SweetmanFeatures writer
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- We know that times are tight - but racecourses really do need to step up and improve outdated weighing rooms
- The budget has heaped even more trouble on racing - and I fear many trainers will now decide the numbers just don't add up
- Why I think Cheltenham Festival handicaps need to change - JP McManus writes exclusively for the Racing Post
- No-one has ever emerged from the womb wearing a trilby - racing's future survival hangs on pursuing a young audience
- Four score and ten just a number to Peter Harris as July Cup triumph shows there's more to the elderly than medical conditions