Joseph O’Brien looking more and more the part with each passing day

When it became clear, in the early part of the season, that Joseph O’Brien was essentially first jockey at Ballydoyle it looked to be an extraordinary decision.

One had to be forgiven for thinking that this smacked of nepotism in its worst form, and there was every chance it would end in tears.

After all here was a 19-year-old rookie, woefully short on experience, who wasn’t just being asked to challenge the likes of Pat Smullen, Johnny Murtagh and Kevin Manning on the domestic scene, but was now expected to prove a match for the very best international riders as well.