Ballydoyle problems ??

[jtw1]

I have been reading with interest both on here and on other Racing forums the question as to wether the O'Brien horses are running below par and i must admit after looking at the % of winners to runners over the past 5 seasons you can only come to the conclusion that they are without doubt having a below- par season . Since '06 the stable's strike rate for runners over in Ireland in the Month of May has been - '06 - 18% [7/38] '07 - 27% '08 - 29% '09 - 28% '10 - 17% [12/71] add the figures for his 3yo runners in May over in Ireland - '06 - 18% [6/33] '07 - 21% '08 - 26% '09 - 29% '10 - 9% [4/46] They are at a loss to explain the lacklustre workout from ST NICHOLAS ABBEY and they had no less than 5 second places from 6 runners on Sat/Sun inc the odds-on AGE OF AQUARIUS . Could there be a bug/virus in the yard that hasn't been traced yet , are their runners simply not been good enough or have they just being 'unlucky' ?? Any opinion's out there ?? Still happy to be on MIDAS TOUCH but glad to have taken BULLET TRAIN as well in the circumstances.

[Trotter]

Re: Ballydoyle problems ?? Just on the basis of the form I'd say they were running below par The position is a bit complicated because it seems that the yard traditionally have a slow start because their top horses have their major engagements at the end of the season, not the beginning ! They seeemed to have been picking up recently with group wins for fame and glory, midas touch, cape blanco, jan vermeer..........but they were all 4/5 runner affairs that might not have taken much winning. They might still be running below par but winning some weak group races ? The Derby should be informative !