AN obsession with horse racing is something many of us are warned against when we are younger, but it does come with an upside, including an improved understanding of genetics, probabilities and history.

The names of racehorses can constitute a lifetime of education in themselves, from a passing knowledge of top ballet dancers (Nijinsky, Nureyev), to Norfolk beauty spots (Blakeney, Morston), and to an encyclopaedic recall of leading artists, scientists and statesmen (Coolmore through the ages).

I have to admit to not having heard of Terence MacSwiney until recently, a gap I have plugged thanks to the horse Mac Swiney, victorious in the Group 1 Vertem Futurity at Doncaster last Saturday. I am better informed now about an important figure in Irish history, if poorer in other respects!

At the same time, my existing interest in Van Gogh has been rekindled by the horse of that name’s win in the Criterium International at Saint-Cloud on the same day. Sir Dragonet, Pythagoras and Baron Samedi were other good eponymous winners in the period under review.

Mac Swiney, the horse, has been hit and miss to date but showed in no uncertain fashion that he is smart under conditions of soft ground, a mile and a strong gallop, toughing it out to deny One Ruler by three quarters of a length.

His finishing speed (as a % of his average race speed) was just 93.6, and those of the horses he beat were even less, in what was a slow-motion finish.

It requires upgrading to get Mac Swiney to a figure of 117 (One Ruler 116, Baradar 112). The Lagardere winner Sealiway still leads the way among European two-year-olds on 123.

Cadences

One thing that is apparent from the detailed analysis on the ATR results page is that Mac Swiney strides like a 10/12 furlong performer, whereas those he beat have quicker cadences and are more like milers. He has a future as a three-year-old, though whether that future involves ground other than soft remains to be seen.

There were also two Group 1s for juveniles at Saint-Cloud on the same day, on ground that was even more testing judged on times.

The aforementioned Van Gogh took a substandard but truly run Criterium International by four lengths and now figures on 115, still just behind One Ruler, who had beaten him in a messier Autumn Stakes at Newmarket.

Gear Up improved to win the 10-furlong Criterium de Saint-Cloud but got the run of things up front and might not confirm the form. He gets a 110 rating, while Botanik and Makaloun get 112 and 113 respectively.