Charles O'Brien

The most telling partnership at the yard right now is with a horse called Paradise Lost, and even that comes with a heavy caveat: one win from 27 races together. That's a long road for both horse and trainer, and it speaks to the grind that training can be when things aren't clicking. Similarly, his most frequent jockey combination — ten rides with Gavin Brouder — has yet to produce a single winner. A trainer and jockey pairing that keeps being tried without a return is either a sign of loyalty or a sign that something needs to change.

There is one small bright spot worth noting. On wet or muddy ground, O'Brien's runners have won 1 from 11 races, which works out at 9% — meaningfully better than his overall season figure. That's not a large sample, but it's the kind of detail that suggests his horses may be better suited to softer conditions, and it's something to watch if the ground is in his favour.

Four years into a training career, O'Brien is still finding his feet at the top level, and this season has been a hard one by any measure. The question now is whether the form of last year — when he was winning at a rate five times better than today — can be rediscovered, or whether this dip represents something more structural in the yard. Either way, one winner from 57 runners is a season that will need turning around quickly.