Those of us who enjoyed a minor pay-day with Australia in last Saturday’s Epsom Derby can thank our lucky stars!

Only a quite brilliant horse could have done what he did, given the Aidan O’Brien stable form going into the greatest classic of them all.

There were plenty who should have been backing the horse who didn’t. And then they were those, at least a handful, who might have been expected to have major bets on Australia and either reduced their wagers greatly or simply didn’t play.

The reason was quite simple, O’Brien’s horses leading into the Derby were just too hit and miss and there is little doubt that Ballydoyle inmates, at least for the moment, have to be treated with the utmost caution.

Do you know that the last eight horses O’Brien ran in the days leading to Saturday all ran what could be best described as stinkers?

Take Tipperary on the Thursday, two days before Epsom. O’Brien introduced a two-year-old newcomer called Battle Of Marathon, who went off a well-backed 11-10 favourite.

He literally never went a yard, trailing in seventh of eight behind the impressive Eddie Lynam-trained Anthem Alexander.

Later O’Brien’s Masai was all the rage for a five furlongs handicap, leaving the gate as the even money favourite.

Masai couldn’t lift a leg, taking ninth of nine and seven and a half lengths adrift of the eighth horse home.

Then O’Brien ran three on the Friday in the Epsom Oaks, Marvellous, Palace and Dazzling. None of them ever threatened to get competitive at any stage.

Onto Leopardstown on the Friday night, starting with another juvenile first-timer, a horse called Gleneagles.

There is no doubt the word was good about Gleneagles and those who should have been backing him were.

But he was in trouble a fair way out, finishing a disappointing fourth behind Ger Lyons’ Convergence.

Next up was Eye Of The Storm, who could only take fourth behind Missunited in the Listed Saval Beg Stakes, before O’Brien’s final runner, prior to the Derby, John Constable, contested a 12 furlongs Listed event.

John Constable went into that contest on an upward curve, but basically proceeded to disgrace himself in finishing 24 lengths sixth of seven behind Roheryn.

Come Saturday morning and it was crystal clear the way O’Brien’s horses were running that Australia had to be regarded as more than vulnerable.

He essentially had to be everything O’Brien said he was to win and even that might not be good enough, with more than a possibility Australia would perform well below par. Punters, even in the most mundane of events, hate backing horses representing a stable that’s clearly out of form.

But great horses, like great sports people, just find a way of getting the job done and that’s why, you suspect, Australia may indeed be something extra special.

It’s not as if, for instance, Australia’s Derby success marked a big upswing in the fortune of the Ballydoyle team.

Alarmingly, the Curragh last Sunday signalled that, if anything, the situation was getting worse.

Admittedly, the Ballydoyle newcomer, Cape Clear Island, performed with real promise in taking second, but then three of their horses, El Salvador, Blackstone and Iniesta, ran like donkeys.

O’Brien did finish the day with half a winner, his Gypsy King dead heating with the 25-1 shot, Dalasiri, in a 12 furlongs maiden.

But even that was less than satisfactory because, in the normal course of events, one would have expected Gypsy King to tie up a leg and beat that horse. And, of course, since Sunday, O’Brien has actually failed to train a winner.

So, Australia, in the middle of the mayhem, ignored everything that was going on around him and won the Derby in scintillating style.

And it is well to remember that his three stable companions, who also ran in the Derby, Orchestra, Geoffrey Chaucer and Kingfisher, couldn’t be mapped with binoculars.

Frankel and Sea The Stars didn’t half set the world of flat racing alight in the recent past.

Australia has a long road to travel before being mentioned in the same breath as that pair. But the son of the mighty racehorse and stallion, Galileo, is certainly going to make for compulsive viewing wherever he shows.

Pat Smullen must have got some kick out of winning a lowly maiden aboard Bush Pilot at the Curragh Sunday.

This horse was regarded as some dose, emphasised by the fact he was allowed to go off at 12-1 in a modest contest. I mean, he’s trained by Dermot Weld and his horses are flying.

But Bush Pilot refused to go through with his effort when ridden from behind at Limerick and gave up when tried from the front at Cork.

On this occasion, Smullen buried him in behind horses, then switched out with about a furlong to run and Bush Pilot quickened away to win in a canter, without knowing he had even been in a race.

So does this mean he has now turned a corner and we will want to be with him next time? Yeah right!

© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved