Maybe it all goes back to the horse-whisperer in the Hogan family of Ballindooley north of Galway city. It's said that one of the Hogans had a mesmeric talent for mysteriously communicating with horses, writes John Hogan.
All he had to do was lay his hands on an ailing equine to make it sound in wind and limb. From miles around, horse owners came to the Hogan farm for the horse whispering services.
Whatever the provenance of the Hogan equine genius, it led to the development of one of the world's greatest bloodstock breeding establishments. This happened in New Zealand to where one of the family, Tom Hogan, who was my uncle, emigrated from Ballindooley in 1914 when he was 19.
He would not see Ireland again for 54 years during which time he founded a bloodstock dynasty that was to set the racing world alight.
The phenomenal success of the Hogan stud eventually led to Tom's son, Patrick, being knighted by Queen Elizabeth who visited his home as did sheikhs, presidents, prime ministers and members of the international racing fraternity.
Twenty years ago the late Robert Sangster declared that Patrick Hogan was the foremost authority on pedigree in the world, and that was even before the progeny from his stud had scored their greatest triumphs on the turf.
The Hogans of Ballindooley were small farmers who won a high reputation as producers of good horses.
Tom Hogan's brother, Timothy, was the supposed horse whisperer, and when Tom set off for New Zealand in his late teens he already was knowledgeable and practised in the handling of horseflesh. Earlier, members of the Hogan family had settled in New Zealand's South Island in the 1850s, and had got involved in the equine industry and horse racing.
Indeed the leading trainer in New Zealand in 1919 was a cousin of Tom's, PT Hogan, who was born there and was known as "Put" Hogan.
A history of horse racing in New Zealand records that "Put" Hogan "retained the accent and character of his Irish parents" and probably inherited his love of horses from them.
Tom Hogan set up his own farm and at first dealt in Clydesdale work horses.
It was said of him that you could sell him a horse on Friday, and you would want to buy it back on Monday.
With the coming of the tractor Tom abandoned the redundant Clydesdales and turned to thoroughbreds.
Soon he was exercising an electrifying influence on bloodstock and horse racing in New Zealand.
By the time he retired he was on that country's racing board and handed down the management of Fencourt Stud outside the town of Cambridge to his oldest son, John and his youngest, Patrick.
In 1968 the sons conspired to send their dad to England to buy a stallion, but their real purpose was to enable him to make his first visit back home to Galway. The stallion Tom bought was Hermes, he of the talaria or winged foot, and it was to produce progeny that included classic turf winners Asgard and Heminia and Van der Hum, winner of one of the world's great races, the Melbourne Cup. Tom arrived at the pub of his brother Paddy (my father) at the top of Bohermore in Galway City for a reunion overflowing with emotion.
It was a time when all of Ireland was agog at the achievements of the Vincent O'Brien-trained colt, Sir Ivor. That wonder horse had just triumphed in the magic double of the English 2000 Guineas and the Derby.
In the Derby, Lester Piggott rode Sir Ivor, and with 50 yards to the finish, produced what may have been the greatest burst of speed ever seen on a racecourse to fly first past the post.
But Tom Hogan, with his flawless judging instincts, wasn't all that impressed and predicted that the French horse Vaguely Noble would beat Sir Ivor in the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe which is precisely what happened. Yet strangely, Sir Ivor was to become part of the Hogan bloodstock saga, for in 1976, Tom's son Patrick bought Sir Tristram, a son of the great horse.
Sir Tristram had been bred in Ireland in 1971 and Patrick brought him to New Zealand to stand at his Cambridge Stud.
He gave the horse the nickname "Paddy" after the uncle he had never met, Paddy Hogan in the pub back in Galway.
By the purchase of Sir Tristram, Patrick was investing his equine knowledge and his fortune, both inherited and acquired, in what he considered the perfect pedigree for his purposes. His courage and prescience led to extraordinary success on the turf.
Sir Tristram and his son Zabeel were two of the handful of elite stallions that have produced more than 100 stake winners in the history of breeding.
Of the 31 winners of the Melbourne Cup since 1976, the Hogans have bred seven, with two that came second.
Patrick Hogan has been inducted into both the Australian and New Zealand Racing Halls of Fame and has been heaped with honours in his own country.
In 2005 Cambridge Stud was acclaimed the most successful international stud in the world.
When talking of his successes, Patrick always gives the credit to his father, Tom, who set out from Ballindooley in 1914.
Tom died in 1972 after issuing one last diktat: "No goddamn flowers."
His ritual every Christmas Day of locking himself in his room and playing Irish music on an old phonograph is still continued by his son.