The Curragh's Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Festival is upon us, with Sunday's feature acting not only as the obvious focal point but also a metric of a certain phenomenon that has taken shape in the preceding months.With six of the eight colts trained by either Aidan, Joseph or Donnacha, it is clear that the O'Briens have moved up several notches as a combined force in European racing and this could just be the way of the future. Ever since Irish Champions Day, when the juvenile feature comprised only of runners trained by APOB and sons, the middle-distance category has been marked by their dominant representation.Doncaster's Futurity Trophy was a Ballydoyle one-two-three, the Criterium de Saint-Cloud went the way of the stable as did most of the Derby trials this spring. Those that didn't fell to Joseph, with Leopardstown's Derby Trial seeing another O'Brien whitewash while in the Ballysax the only one trained outside the three stables finished stone last.Due to be staged on vastly contrasting conditions to Epsom's bog-like Blue Riband, Aidan has half the field with the fast-ground class acts Benvenuto Cellini (Frankel) and Pierre Bonnard (Camelot) almost guaranteed to show their true merit and Christmas Day (Camelot) some yardstick despite having to prove he can do it on a level playing field. Joseph has James J Braddock (Zarak), who remains an unknown quantity and could be far better suited to this kind of test, so the rest could have been forgiven for staying away from the party.Luckily, that is not the case with Shadwell and Owen Burrows intent on some serious gatecrashing with a certain unbeaten blueblood who was probably lucky to have been spared the gruel of this year's Derby. Baaeed and Hukum's brother Raaheeb (Sea The Stars) has shown a more precocious side than his illustrious siblings so far and the Sandown Classic Trial winner could be Part III of an epic story.The operation's Angus Gold is approaching the examination with a sense of realism. “We don't even know if he belongs in that company. We hope that he does and he is already a Group winner so he is that sort of class, but it is early days for him and a huge jump up,” he admitted. “He is probably the least-experienced horse in there, which is a factor and if it dries up to fast ground that is another factor, but we are going to give it a go.”“We are learning about this horse, as he has only had two runs in his life whereas some of Aidan's have had six or seven runs,” he added. “I don't think the mile-and-a-half trip will be a problem and physically, he has always looked like a staying horse. He is more of a Hukum type than a Baaeed, so I would be surprised if it is the trip that beats him.”Over the course of the weekend, O'Brien Sr and Jrs account for the forecast favourites in four of the five Group races and are sure to have a major say in the assorted maidens, one of which is the always-important one carrying the Barronstown Stud title which has served as the launching pad for so many Irish luminaries. Saturday's feature Pretty Polly has the brilliant Oaks heroine Thundering On (Frankel), who gets 12 pounds from older fillies and mares that already looked up against it and who may not even count Estrange (Night Of Thunder) among their number if David O'Meara isn't happy with the ground.The master of Ballydoyle was able to give a lowdown on his Derby runners from the track on Friday evening. “All the Epsom horses seem to have come out of their races well, it's a proper competitive race and the weather and ground are beautiful, so you have everything you want,” he said, before giving a clue as the expected tempo of this renewal. “Christmas Day is a good mover who handles soft ground because he stays so well and I'd say that everybody will know that they are following him.”“I wasn't sure Ryan would stay on Benvenuto Cellini, but he was happy to put a line through Epsom and nobody knows better than him–he was beaten a mile there, but we knew that soft ground was never his thing and that's the way it fell,” he added. “He has different ground and that could change the result completely from Epsom. He is drawn out wide, but still Ryan wanted to ride him.”Of the notorious stalls incident that led to him being declared a non-runner in the Derby, he said, “He's done a lot of stalls work–he has a habit of lifting his hind legs and putting them out and the lads at home say he does it there, which is very unusual. It's not a panic thing, but it has to be a disadvantage and so we'll put him in late.”Joseph gave the lowdown on James J Braddock and his star filly Thundering On. “We're very pleased with him and he's come forward well from the Derby,” he said. “We think this test will suit him better and he won't mind getting back on faster ground. He's a big, robust horse who you'd imagine is more made for The Curragh.”“Thundering On found the line very strong and was very impressive at Epsom, she's very exciting,” he added. “I suppose the most impressive part was what she did from the half-furlong marker to the line. When Dylan did ask her she pulled away, which I thought was impressive. You don't ever expect them to travel into the Oaks like that, that doesn't happen every often.”“I think after the Irish Oaks she'll have a little freshen up,” he added. “I guess the other option is the Nassau or something like that. It's to be discussed, but I'd imagine she'll have a little freshen up after the Irish Oaks and we'll plot through the autumn.”Benvenuto Cellini was second on debut in Saturday's aforementioned Barronstown Stud Maiden, which Aidan O'Brien has used for the likes of Rip Van Winkle, Gleneagles, Roderic O'Connor, Duke Of Marmalade, Horatio Nelson and Australia before City Of Troy was unveiled in 2023.It is not hard to imagine that 12 months on, Giant Sequoia will be another son of Frankel occupying the headlines for the Derbys with Ryan Moore on the son of Pink Dogwood who carries the Resolute Racing silks. He is joined by two newcomers from the yard in Hawk Mountain's brother Oklahoma (Wootton Bassett) and Shakespeare (Dubawi), the 1.3million gns son of the Nassau heroine Lady Bowthorpe (Nathaniel). It is worth remembering that not all of the very good colts from the yard to emerge from this maiden actually won it.On Sunday, the fillies' equivalent won in recent years by Ballydoyle starlets Lake Victoria and Ylang Ylang sees the stable represented by the promising Leopardstown runner-up Alpha (Sea The Stars), a daughter of Alpha Centauri who if successful will undoubtedly be on the traditional Silver Flash-Debutante-Moyglare programme. This looks a deeper contest than the colts' race, with City Of Troy's half-sister Exceptionally (Into Mischief) just one of several bluebloods in the line-up and on jockey bookings the third-string of the Rosegreen contingent.Other key players for the stable on the weekend include the beaten Coventry and Albany favourites Confucius (No Nay Never) and Sun Goddess (Sioux Nation) in the G3 Anglesey Stakes and G2 Airlie Stud Stakes respectively, with the latter race seeing a 50% O'Brien family representation including two of Annemarie's homebreds. Also at The Curragh on Sunday, Juddmonte's exciting Purview (Kingman) puts his reputation on the line in the G3 Dubai Duty Free International Stakes with Dermot Weld plotting a route for his potentially top-drawer colt.Elsewhere over the weekend, York on Saturday probably has the highlight with last year's City of York winner Never So Brave (No Nay Never) tackled by the Jersey flop Saber Strike (Night Of Thunder). William Haggas believed the latter was his banker of Royal Ascot and wants to see more from his prodigy here. “He didn't run his race for whatever reason and we don't know why and therefore we thought we'd go again,” he explained. “It didn't seem to fall our way, but he came out of the race in very good nick and these horses they are there to run. When the conditions are right for them I think you've got to run them.”The post O’Briens Dominate The Curragh’s Derby Weekend appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.