It stands for Sheikh Mohammed and Dubai. It stands for excellence and expectation.

It is the No.1 brand in world racing. And from August 1, it became a full-time fixture here, with the Sheikh's Australian operation replacing the maroon-and-white silks of Darley with the famous Godolphin blue.

Godolphin's general manager Henry Plumptre has no doubt what the implication of that decision was.

"It shows the success of the Australian racing operation had caught the attention of Dubai," he says.  "It was a big step and it meant more change even though we were already in transition. But this was a show of confidence in us and what we had achieved in the past six years."

But the call to wear the blue only added to the pressure on new head trainer John O'Shea, who had just taken over from Peter Snowden at the helm of Australia's biggest racing operation. The problem with Godolphin blue is that it is conspicuous. It's easy to see when you're winning. It's also easy to see when you're not.

Plumptre called the switch from Snowden to O'Shea the most significant change in the operation since Sheikh Mohammed first bought the Woodlands empire in 2008. To change silks at the same time only piled on the pressure on a new trainer who must have felt like David Moyes following in the footsteps of Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

"When Pete left, we lost 20 years of his experience under John Hawkes and another six years of success he'd had with us," Plumptre said. "The man that replaced him, it was like walking in off the street. He had been training 150 in total, 80 at Randwick [compared to more than 500 at Darley]. That settling-in period for him was purely coping with the numbers. It has gone better than I expected."

It seemed an unusual match in some eyes – the ruler of Dubai and the boy from North Queensland, who talks fondly of his days playing rugby league in the Foley Shield competition for Cairns. The son of a bookmaker who completed a journalism degree before deciding to chase his dream as a horse trainer.

"I have got to admit that the first time I walked into the enclosure and one of the jockeys came out in the blue colours, it was quite daunting," O'Shea says. "It was a long way from Cairns.

"It was like 'should I really be here standing next to these colours'. They are known for some pretty big stuff, I was in awe of them. It is not just a set of colours but it is what they stand for.

"When you're a small little operator, you are punching around in inconspicuous colours but our colour stands out like ... a lot. One doesn't run well and everyone knows about it."

Godolphin, they had more than 100 group 1 winners worldwide and O'Shea had been charged with continuing that proud record in Australia. Winning at the highest level is a requirement at Godolphin. Saturday wins are important to most trainers, feature race successes a highlight. At Godolphin, they're a must.

The lean start to the O'Shea era has set tongues wagging but they will be stopped if Sweynesse maintains his unbeaten record in the Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick on Saturday or Kumaon salutes in the Caulfield Guineas.

"The focus has always been for us to get the group horses to perform," racing manager Jason Walsh says. "The carnival is what Sheikh Mohammed is in this for. He loves group 1 racing and loves to be competitive in group 1 racing.

"We have had lean runs before, even last year before Guelph got going ... we will be judged hardest in the next couple of weeks."

For Godolphin, history weighs heavily in the two big races this weekend. They have won the Spring Champion three times in the past six years and the Caulfield Guineas twice. That's a tough measuring stick.

"Kumaon is a genuine 10-1 shot," Plumptre says. "He looks like an Ambidexter or a Skilled as a three-year-old. He is around that group 1 level. He is a big, tough bugger. Hopefully, he can be a first-four finisher on Saturday.

"When you are going into a group 1 off an unbeaten run, you are a bit of sitting target.  Sweynesse has done nothing wrong but he is meeting a very good filly. We won this race with Complacent last year and we thought he was a star. I don't know if Sweynesse is up there with him."

Plumptre, Walsh and O'Shea work as a team. This is not a one-man operation and a weekly planning meeting is like selection night for football teams.

"This is the engine room of our racing," Plumptre said. "We discuss the past week runners, how the horses are going and where they going. We probably spend more time on the slow ones than the fast ones because they take care of themselves. It is something that Peter started and it is great way know where we are going."

Racing assistants Tom Ward and Darren Beadman, join the meeting, together with Sydney and Melbourne assistant trainers Brad Widdup and David Charles, via video link.

Plumptre understands that the Godolphin way of working is very different for most trainers.

"There is a very fine line between being a racehorse trainer and being a control freak," he says. "Most of the really good trainers have an element of control freak about them. It is only natural. Here we have to trust and delegate and John is good at that."

Maybe he is but it doesn't come naturally, though O'Shea admits his football background does help.

"It's a much different operation to running your own stable," he says. "You make the decisions  and you don't have to ask to anyone and stand by them. Now I don't make as many decisions and consult with Henry and the team a lot more.

"Many times you don't get the result you would have under different circumstances. There is no onus on you to make the decision, it is a real  team environment.

"I like It, discussing horses with Darren and the others and bouncing ideas off each other. We just discuss options about a horse and I say can 'righto,  what do you think'. They are plenty of options where there is no right or wrong answer. We end up with a decision everyone is comfortable with."

O'Shea has also learnt what it is like to feel like public property. He has had to handle people talking about him, rather than to him.

"The main difference has been the public scrutiny of the job and the position," he says. It has been a main topic of conversation. It is a big operation and has a big expectation around it,"

"To honest I have had to switch off from listening to radio stations, reading newspapers and I definitely don't read websites because if you did, it would do your head in."

O'Shea has an infamous temper and he knows all eyes are often trained on him because of that. But he is also learning the mantra of Godolphin.

"We have a mantra here that we don't actively push out there. You win with humility and you lose with grace," Plumptre says.

"That doesn't happen all the time. Peter was good at it. He was a bloody good loser but it used to frustrate him. You pump six months into a group 1 race and lose it by half an inch. Earthquake was a draining result for him in the Golden Slipper because it meant a lot but things went against it on the day and there was another very good filly.

"John is good at it. We know that [Godolphin] is an object of interest because it is big, and there is a lot that goes into it. There is a lot of success. Of course that is interesting to people."