No ordinary Joe

A slender, almost insubstantial human frame will sit almost immobile, considering his options. The weight of the world will be upon the slim shoulders of Joseph O'Brien. He carries an almost unbearable burden. He sits on a favourite in the Derby, every sinew stretched to make history by being part of the first father and son combination to win the race since its inauguration in 1780.

Camelot, his mount, is trained by Aidan O'Brien at Ballydoyle and the pressure on the young jockey has been increased by victory in the 2000 Guineas.

At 6ft and nine stones, O'Brien jnr knows too that his opportunities for winning the Derby may be limited severely by the unlikelihood of being able to maintain a racing weight in a lengthy figure.

"Life is too short to think about these things too much, you'd drive yourself mad if you did, so you've just got to play the cards you're dealt," he once said.

Only last week, reflecting on his 19th birthday, he said: ''It is in the lap of the gods. I will do the best I can but if I am too heavy, I am too heavy. No success is worth it if it takes 10 or 15 years off your life. And I'm lucky in that I would always have something to do around here. I'm in an incredible position. In the meantime, I will eat well and I won't kill myself to do very light weights."

The calmness of young O'Brien should not be mistaken for a lack of focus. This is a young man bred to be a champion. His father and his mother, Anne Marie O'Brien, are both steeped in the sport.

Aidan has twice trained the winner of the Derby – Galileo and High Chapparal – he has also sent out nine Irish Derby winners, two Breeder's Cup Turf and a Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe among a host of top-class winners. Anne-Marie's father, Joe Crowley, trained horses in County Kilkenny, and she took over to win a Champion National Hunt Trainer.

Joseph, the couple's oldest child, was around horses from an early age. "He has never known anything but horses from the moment he could walk. He used to sit in the back of the jeep with me on the gallops in the mornings before he went to school, and then he would ride out every weekend," said Aidan of his son.

"He has been involved in all the discussions about the horses from an early age, and he has been with us in the good days and the ordinary days."

There have been few "ordinary" days. O'Brien took over at Ballydoyle, once the domain of the great Vincent O'Brien, in 1996. Aidan is no relation to Vincent, a genius with horses, but has some of his predecessor's skill at producing thoroughbred winners.

Joseph waited all of 16 years to ride his first winner, Johann Zoffany, at Leopardstown on May 28, 2009. "We bounced out and made the running and nothing ever caught us. It's easy to win on them ones," he explained with a modesty that has never left him.

His first Classic victory was gained at 17 and last November he became the youngest jockey to win a race at the Breeders' Cup festival. He rode Camelot, with a brilliant assurance, to success in the 2000 Guineas.

The horse, of course, has a racing pedigree to match that of Joseph. Camelot is sired by Montjeu and the O'Brien family knows the horse must have a significant impact beyond today's race. Montjeu, whose sons include Derby winners Motivator, Authorized and Pour Moi, died earlier this year. Camelot has been groomed to be his successor at stud.

Father and son are aware of the tens of millions of pounds that rest on a gallop at Epsom that should take just more than two and a half minutes. Joseph has been schooled in horse pedigrees. ''I would know every horse; the stallion, the dam, the pedigree. It was never something I had to learn, you just picked it from listening to the talk. Before school, after school, the conversation was always horses," he said.

He progressed from being his father's constant companion on the gallops to eventing at 13. In August 2009, he won a bronze individual eventing medal at the European Pony Championships in Belgium.

The discipline of eventing, particularly dressage, improved him as a horseman. "You have to have a great bond with your horse; the horse must listen to you and trust you," he said.

But racing is his passion. He was never a scholastic child, his mind always drifting to the outdoors where horses galloped and his father watched with a total absorption. His reading is mostly confined to racing biographies and his sporting life outside racing involves watching football, particularly Manchester United.

He has thrust himself to the forefront of the sport with a natural ability and a work ethic that may be the product of his genes but also owes much to his will. Of course, he has capitalised on being the son of a trainer with access to top horses but Aidan O'Brien has never been known for making accommodations when it comes to the serious business of racing. His history is speckled with full and frank discussions with the likes of Micky Kinane, Jamie Spencer, Johnny Murtagh and Kieren Fallon.

The trainer admits he finds it strange to listen to his son's views on a horse but he has become accustomed to accepting the ultimate validity of Joseph's opinions.

"We are enjoying what is a fairytale with Joseph riding these big winners, but I don't even want to think about how I would feel if the dream became reality at Epsom," he said.

The sprint to that dream begins when the horses turn around Tattenham Corner this afternoon. Joseph O'Brien will have sweated to make a nine stone weight that surely must soon be beyond him. He can be relied on, though, to remain cool in what is a contest of huge significance for his father and his business. It also may constitute a personal race against time.

PROFILE O'Brien's slender frame will have to shoulder expectation while trying to steer his mount to a famous success, writes Hugh MacDonald